Bose Is Suing Beats Electronics Over Noise-Canceling Headphone Patents

Bose Corporation has filed a legal complaint against Beats Electronics for allegedly infringing patents related to its noise-canceling headphones, which was first reported by CNBC. Bose claims that Beats is infringing upon 50 years of research and development of noise cancellation technology that is protected by 36 U.S. patents and applications.

“To protect its investments, Bose has sought patent protection, and owns many patents and patent applications. Because Bose invests heavily in research and development, and because Bose has built its reputation on producing superior products through innovative technology, Bose’s continued success depends in substantial part on its ability to establish, maintain, and protect its proprietary technology through enforcement of its patent rights,” said Bose in its complaint.

Apple AAPL +0.66% announced earlier this year that it intends to buy Beats Electronics and Beats Music for $3 billion. This lawsuit adds to the numerous patent battles that Apple is facing against Samsung Electronics .

In the legal complaint, Bose specifically accused the Beats Studio and Beats Studio Wireless headphones for infringing patents embodied within its latest noise-canceling headphone models — the Bose QuietComfort 20 and Bose QuietComfort 20i (known as the QC20 line). Beats sells its Studio headphones with “Adaptive Noise Cancellation” features through its website BeatsByDre.com and retailers with locations throughout the country, including Best Buy BBY -1.34%, Staples SPLS -1.74%, Target and Radio Shack.

Bose said that it is asserting the following patents against Beats:

6,717,537 – “Method and apparatus for minimizing latency in digital signal processing systems”

8,054,992 – “High frequency compensating”

8,073,150 – “Dynamically configurable ANR signal processing topology”

8,073,151 – “Dynamically configurable ANR filter block topology”

8,345,888 – “Digital high frequency phase compensation”

Bose is asking the court for a declaration that Beats infringed the aforementioned patents, an injunction from “continued infringement,” an award for damages, an order that finds Beats’ infringement is willful and relief that the court deems as just.

Bose said that Beats instructs users how to use its products in a manner that allegedly infringes the asserted patents in the Beats Studio User Guide and the Beats Studio Wireless User Guide. The noise canceling functionalities in the Beats headphones are used automatically when someone is listening to music and the user guide instructs users how to reduce noise. The Beats headphones also have noise cancellation when no music is played.

Bose filed the infringement complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and is asking the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate the matter.

Carolyn Cinotti, the director of Bose Public Relations, said that the company does not comment on on-going litigation, but provided the following statement to FORBES:

“The filing is comprehensive and explains our position, and as a matter of practice, we don’t comment on on-going litigation. We can share that for over 30 years, Bose has made significant investments in the research, development, engineering and design of the proprietary technologies found in our headphones. Bose’s patented technologies enable the exclusive performance found in our QuietComfort® Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones. We are committed to protecting our investment, protecting our customers, and defending the patents we own.

Battle Of The Beats!

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