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Apple Countersues US Stereo Headphone Inventor Koss in Response to Patent Lawsuit
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Apple is countersuing Stereophone inventor and audio manufacturer Koss over a patent lawsuit it recently filed in Waco, Texas, accusing Apple and several audio companies of violating patents relating to its wireless headphone technology.
In the Koss lawsuit, originally spotted by Patently Apple, AirPods and Beats wireless headphones are accused of violating five patents relating to wireless headphone technology that Koss essentially says it pioneered in the industry. The four patents describe wireless earphones that involve a transceiver circuit, enabling a device to stream audio from a digital audio player, computer, or wireless network.
Koss said Apple was aware of these patents and met several times to discuss using them, before deciding not to license any of the company's technology. Koss now wants an unspecified amount in compensation for the alleged infringements, "which by law cannot be less than a reasonable royalty, together with interests and costs."
In Apple's filing registered with the U.S. District Court for the Northern California on August 8, however, it claims Koss' allegations are "baseless." Moreover, it alleges that the lawsuit also breaks a written confidentiality agreement that Koss demanded and Apple ultimately agreed to in 2017.
According to the agreement, neither Apple nor Koss "would use or attempt to use any Communications [between the parties], or the existence thereof, in a litigation or any other administrative or court proceeding for any purpose."
Apple now says this is precisely what Koss has done in bringing the lawsuit, thereby rendering it invalid. In addition to the alleged breach of contract, Apple also submitted documentary evidence that it says proves that it hasn't violated any of the patents cited by Koss in its original litigation.
Apart from Apple, other companies targeted by the Koss lawsuit include Bose, JLab, Plantronics, and Skullcandy, all of which allegedly violate Koss patents related to in-ear wireless headphones technology that is now used widely in the audio market.
Article Link: Apple Countersues US Stereo Headphone Inventor Koss in Response to Patent Lawsuit
It would be a great help if you could also provide direct links to the PDFs of complaints like this (and patents when discussed). There's a link to Patently Apple, which includes a Scribd link, but that's a lousy way of reading a document. I've been hunting for the PDF and can't seem to find it online. This is a public document, right? I don't see a reason I need to create an account with Sribd or anyone else to download it.
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Koss went through a dark patch, one they may still be in, but they also had some major successes in the 80s. I'm serious when I say the Porta-Pro (which I notice is now also available in a wireless model) is one of the best values in headphones. Easily outperforms anything under $100. Koss made great wireless and DJ headphones too, back when these were boutique segments.
Consumer audio in the 90s was generally trash and even the high end brands have a few shameful moments.
because texas courthouses favor patent trolls. not saying koss is a patent troll but this is a well known thing. just do a google search and find the many articles of why patent trolls take their cases to texas.
When you have billions of dollars, you can always break the law(s) and pay the measly fines/lawsuits.
Ok, now that makes me angry. Did they outsource document handling to Ticketmaster or something? People shouldn’t need to pay a convenience fee, or even reveal any personal information through an account setup, to view documents in the public record pertaining to the operation of their government.The Courts charge a fee (10 cents a page?) to view/download it. Nothing’s free
How is that even sustainable? What’s to stop one person from paying the $2.70 to download and then publish it?
Coming up, Apple looks into Koss for trademark infringement. Koss' logo sure looks a lot like Apple's!
I’m not sure Koss has billions, do they? The allegation here is that they breached their confidentiality agreement with Apple.
So let me get this right?
Apple says that Koss sueing them for infringement and cites talks they had as a confidentiality breach.
I would say that infringement trumps a confidentiality agreement that can be used to stop a lawsuit, even if you are at fault, is against the public interest.
Apple says that Koss sueing them for infringement and cites talks they had as a confidentiality breach.
I would say that infringement trumps a confidentiality agreement that can be used to stop a lawsuit, even if you are at fault, is against the public interest.
In case no one remembers, Steve Jobs announces iPod HiFI which can replace a AVR with speakers, immediately Apple quickly get rid of most of the computer speakers from their store. It was bad product. Apple Buys Beats, all the good competing earphones and headphones quickly disappear from the store. I would love some Karma here. Apple needs to be taught that you can't just claim you created something when they never developed it.
Maybe some of this was levied against Beats previously and Apple just inherited this legal action.
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it’s more of a forum-selection clause than anything else. Normally whoever is the first to file gets to choose where the suit is. Apple is essentially alleging that this rule shouldn’t apply, because of the agreement. They will fight the suit, but they want the suit in california, not Texas.
Noted flea market vendor Koss doesn't like the status of its balance sheet; goes after Apple. We've heard this story before.
No one remembers this because it's not true. The scenarios you presented never happened. You're "misremembering".In case no one remembers, Steve Jobs announces iPod HiFI which can replace a AVR with speakers, immediately Apple quickly get rid of most of the computer speakers from their store. It was bad product. Apple Buys Beats, all the good competing earphones and headphones quickly disappear from the store. I would love some Karma here. Apple needs to be taught that you can't just claim you created something when they never developed it.
Read the article and the links. Apple, not Beats, entered into a confidentiality agreement with Koss. Koss approached Apple, not Beats, about a licensing agreement.
Wow people on here are salty and presumptive 🙄. I did read the article, I just find it odd that KOSS haven't gone after all the other manufactures of wireless audio.
Their patents would cover literally every manufacture of wireless headphones or earbuds so why haven't they gone for Samsung, Sony, Microsoft, LG, Anker, Sennheiser, B&O, JBL and many many more. There are thousands of brands/manufactures of wireless earbuds/headphones. But no it was just Apple, Bose and three other companies who infringed ?
This just seems like an attention grab by KOSS, so they go for Apple but don't not Beats, right........ (and yes I know Beats is owned by Apple)
It costs a lot of money to sue for patent infringement. The normal course of action is to sue a few defendants first, and when you win you use the money to finance suing more (a win in the first set of suits can also set useful precedents that can be used in latter suits). You also can't sue everyone in the same place unless they all have a presence in that location, so you'd otherwise have to have many simultaneous lawsuits going on across the country.
Salty? No. Presumptive? Maybe. But your quote implied that you either 1. didn't read the article 2. skimmed the article too quickly and somehow managed to miss every single pertinent fact or 3. didn't quite understand what you read in the article. You were the one who stated they just went after Apple; which they didn't. The first sentence in the article clearly said they went after others as well. More evidence below really makes me think you started typing after reading the headline.
As @cmaier stated, suing for infringment ain't cheap. Going after thousands of brands and manufacturers simultaneously is both impractical and impossible.
See statements like ↑↑↑ make me believe you didn't read the article. The first sentence in the article says they sued Apple and others. The very next sentence says: "In the Koss lawsuit, originally spotted by Patently Apple, AirPods and Beats wireless headphones are accused of violating five patents relating to wireless headphone technology that Koss essentially says it pioneered in the industry."
How did you miss that if you read the article? Also, how did you miss the portion that described them meeting several times? Discussions, sensitive enough to have a confidentiality agreement drawn up. Did Koss have these discussions with the thousands of other wireless headset makers you want to bring up? Dunno. We do know they had discussions with Apple. So why would you find it odd they sued Apple and not others? Apple was the one company we know they spoke with prior to initiating a lawsuit.
Why didn't Koss sue Beats back in 2012 when they started selling wireless headphones then ?
Maybe it's just coincidence that Koss is suing now, when it's rumoured that Apple has been working on its own brand of wireless over-ear headphones.
"Koss sues Apple" will always grab more attention and more headlines than for-instance "Koss sues Beats" would have got back in 2012 and that's a fact.
Maybe it's just coincidence that Koss is suing now, when it's rumoured that Apple has been working on its own brand of wireless over-ear headphones.
"Koss sues Apple" will always grab more attention and more headlines than for-instance "Koss sues Beats" would have got back in 2012 and that's a fact.
Apple already has over-ear headphones - doesn’t make much difference whether they are branded Beats or Apple from Koss’ perspective.