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Apple and THX Work to Resolve Speaker Patent Dispute Outside Court

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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple and THX will attempt to solve their speaker patent dispute out of court, reports Bloomberg, after lawyers for the two companies filed a request with the San Francisco federal court to ask for a postponement of a case-management conference scheduled to take place on June 14.

thx.jpg
THX, the sound engineering company that was founded by George Lucas, originally sued Apple in March over patented speaker technology that is used in the iMac, iPhone, and iPad product lines. The patent, titled "Narrow profile speaker configurations and systems," pertains to technology most recently used in the new iMac, which features long channels that allow audio to be projected from the bottom edge of the machine.
THX holds a 2008 patent for a speaker unit that can boost sound output and attach to computers or flat-screen televisions, according to a complaint filed in March. Apple products that incorporate the speaker units infringe the patent, causing "monetary damage and irreparable harm," according to San Rafael, California-based THX.
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In the lawsuit, THX asks for a court order to halt the alleged infringement along with a reasonable royalty or damages to compensate for lost profit. The two companies have asked for the case management conference to be postponed until July 26.

Article Link: Apple and THX Work to Resolve Speaker Patent Dispute Outside Court
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/06/05/apple-and-thx-work-to-resolve-speaker-patent-dispute-outside-court/
HiVolt

HiVolt

macrumors 68000
Sep 29, 2008
1,648
6,046
Toronto, Canada
lol, irreparable harm... Of course its completely repairable when you get awarded damages and license this "technology"...

God patent trolls suck... And that includes Apple themselves.
 
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sexiewasd

macrumors regular
Mar 14, 2012
211
6
Back in Your Head
THX can hardly be called a patent troll. Now it seams to me that it wouldn't be hard to invalidate this patent, but it might be better off for Apple to simply pay the royalty and put a THX logo on the box.
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,554
6,053
sexiewasd said:
THX can hardly be called a patent troll. Now it seams to me that it wouldn't be hard to invalidate this patent, but it might be better off for Apple to simply pay the royalty and put a THX logo on the box.
Click to expand...

There's no way Apple will ever put a THX logo on their product directly, but I can only see putting it on the box as a plus.
 
macs4nw

macs4nw

macrumors 601
Sep 21, 2010
4,336
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Next-door from the little old lady from Pasadena..
sexiewasd said:
THX can hardly be called a patent troll. Now it seams to me that it wouldn't be hard to invalidate this patent, but it might be better off for Apple to simply pay the royalty and put a THX logo on the box.
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Agreed. THX is by all accounts a respectable company, and I'm sure this could be worked out reasonably and amicably. Not sure about the THX logo.....
 
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petsounds

macrumors 65816
Jun 30, 2007
1,493
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Companies working out their differences amicably, imagine that! The lawyers must be pissed.
 
ArtOfWarfare

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,554
6,053
Colpeas said:
Why not, they did it with Bose in the 90's, remember?
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No, I'm too young to remember that. It sounds a little familiar, and based on the timing, I suspect that Steve Jobs wasn't there to prevent it.

Jonathan Ives is still at Apple to say "absolutely not" to having other companies brands on the surface of an Apple product.
 
3

3282868

macrumors 603
Jan 8, 2009
5,281
0
Are these patents for the same iPad speaker I have to cup my hand around to hear? ;)
 
nutmac

nutmac

macrumors 603
Mar 30, 2004
6,051
7,306
macs4nw said:
Agreed. THX is by all accounts a respectable company, and I'm sure this could be worked out reasonably and amicably. Not sure about the THX logo.....
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THX was a respectable company when it was a part of Lucasfilm. It has since been sold to Creative Labs and it has lost much of its creative juice since.
 
C

Craig F

macrumors newbie
Jun 5, 2013
1
0
Am I the only one that sees the irony this?


The Holman eXperiment is negotiating with Apple Audio that is headed by Tomlinson Holman.
 
SeaFox

SeaFox

macrumors 68030
Jul 22, 2003
2,619
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Somewhere Else
AppleMark said:
THX Technology would make very good TV speakers then...?
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It would if they actually made anything.

It's much cheaper to sit around and do nothing, then wait for someone to try and develop something similar and just sue them for all their profits for infringing your dust-collecting patents.

Porco said:
Phew, I thought this could go on for 1138 years!
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That would be another legal monkey on Apple's back and a long road to travel down. Little hope of seeing the light after the long climb.
 
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edison5

macrumors newbie
Jun 6, 2013
1
0
Dusty Patents

Speaking of dusty patents, the technology in question is basically a folded horn design going back to probably before the 30s with Western Electric and numerous others since. There are gobs of designs using wave theory in your local library (and other products in your local big box store with this exact application). I love it when these jokers stick an ancient design on their new device and call it their "invention".
 
chirpie

chirpie

macrumors 6502a
Jul 23, 2010
646
183
Craig F said:
Am I the only one that sees the irony this?


The Holman eXperiment is negotiating with Apple Audio that is headed by Tomlinson Holman.
Click to expand...

Funny! (But, alas, not ironic. Serendipitous for sure though...)
 
jnpy!$4g3cwk

jnpy!$4g3cwk

macrumors 65816
Feb 11, 2010
1,119
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Technology question: what exactly is the patent for?

edison5 said:
Speaking of dusty patents, the technology in question is basically a folded horn design going back to probably before the 30s with Western Electric and numerous others since. There are gobs of designs using wave theory in your local library (and other products in your local big box store with this exact application). I love it when these jokers stick an ancient design on their new device and call it their "invention".
Click to expand...

Funny, that was exactly my question. How does this design differ from the myriad of horn designs I used to read about in High Fidelity 50 years ago or so? Everything from huge designs for big old houses to tiny desktop designs. On the commercial side, big Klipsch corner speakers, down to small dorm-room designs, one of which became, I think, the "Bic Venturi" desktop speaker. Has anyone read the patent to see exactly what the "novel" feature is?
 
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