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Bose Sues Beats for Patent Infringement Over Noise-Cancelling Headphones

I can't say I saw this coming, BUT

I can say this is just one more clarification that the Beats deal wasn't that great of a deal. No one is paying attention to the signs.

The first sign was when Dre and his buddies posted that stupid video.

And now this?

What's next?

And we have the two knuckleheads Iovine and Dre as employees at Apple? They shouldn't be in upper management, they should be garbage disposal people emptying trash, that's more their style.
 
Moopy Sac said:
It's ridiculous that these companies can sue for these vague patents which cover things like "design," "look" or "feel."
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It's ridiculous how people post here when they have no idea what a design patent is, which describes _in a very detailed way_ things like "design", "look" and "feel". It's equally ridiculous how you can make a complaint like this when the words "design", "look" and "feel" were not mentioned in the patents involved here at all.
 
Personally, this is the PERFECT time to can the deal due to a lawsuit due to design infringement, that could be enough for Apple to back out of the deal.
 
I like it how everyone suddenly became audiophiles.

(sidenote: nope, audiophiles are not weirdos who take advantage of headsets)
 
I still have two pairs of Fostex T20's from the 80's and they sound great! But what is this noise canceling thing? Do they cancel noise outside of the headphones or noise in the actual audio signal?
 
MikeSmoke said:
I still have two pairs of Fostex T20's from the 80's and they sound great! But what is this noise canceling thing? Do they cancel noise outside of the headphones or noise in the actual audio signal?
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Outside the headphone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noise-cancelling_headphones

Active noise control uses microphones to pick up ambient sounds, then uses signal processors to flip the waveform which has the effect of cancelling it out when picked up by our ears.
 
lazard said:
If their patents are valid, then they have every right to defend them.
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If they are infringed. There are plenty of company making noise cancelling headphones, and most doing it for a lot longer than Bose. Just looking at the patent titles, these seem to be very specific techniques, and it should be easy to find out if Beats is infringing them or not.

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lazard said:
Just because they stole the technology doesn't mean they know how to or have the skilled personnel to implement it. It's like having John Doe make a dish from a cookbook. Sure he has the ingredients and instructions, but it doesn't mean he'll be able to reproduce the dish perfectly.
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If you try to infringe on a patent but it doesn't work, then it isn't patent infringement.
 
In related news

Top level Apple executives have been spotted hanging around Framingham, MA as of late.
Seriously... if this really starts becoming a 'thing' then Apple will just negotiate to purchase Bose or at least licensing rights to all the noise-cancelling technology.
 
chirpie said:
I'm just gonna leave this one right here...

http://www.audioholics.com/news/blue-jeans-strikes-back
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That's positively brilliant. Sat and read the whole thing.
I've only been to court once, I'm only 22 and have no legal training but it was one of the biggest rushes of my life after spending weeks crafting a case to the point of overkill then crucifying a former friend in court (he stole money and goods). Made me think law not engineering was my calling :p.

Just a shame the US patent system is so utterly broken and Americans will sue over nothing, it creates a toxic atmosphere and attitudes in society.
 
skottichan said:
See I used to buy into the party line and scoffed Beats as being too bass-y. Then I listened to a friend's Studios, granted they're not the best headphones I've ever heard, but they're far from being the bass heavy mess everyone claims them to be.
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There are still much better headphones within a similar price range.

TouchMint.com said:
Should have sued before they had to deal with apples legal team haha
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That is extremely funny, and it may be true. Beats could have afforded to pay given that they are a reasonably profitable company.
 
sk1wbw said:
I got even money that says none of you could tell the difference between a pair of Bose and a pair of Beats headsets blindfolded.
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The one with ear-shattering bass is the Beats pair. Sennheiser, Audiotechnica, and Grado are pretty much the only brands I go to when looking for headphones.

...unless I'm using Apple earbuds.

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iChrist said:
Gosh dang those are ugly headphones.

Beats headphones are like the iPhone 5c and the Bose are like the 5S.

:rolleyes:
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You should never judge headphones based on look. My Sennheiser HD428's look way worse (apparently) than Beats, but I can assure you that they were much better. And probably cost less. Grados aren't top of the line in looks, either, but they're amazing with sound.
 
Plutonius said:
Why is Bose doing this now ? I thought Beats have been selling their headphones for a long time.
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Beats noise cancellation was garbage. They probably "tweaked" some of their technology and/or implementation and voilà patent infringement.
 
Take da money & run!

JoEw said:
Coincidence right as the Apple deal is about to close?
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I sure hope Apple saw this coming and has a clause in the Beats purchase agreement that if anybody comes after them, Beats pays ALL fees & judgements.

This needs to be like the old contingency fee deal with attorneys - a typical 60/40% structure along with the lawyers getting all expenses reimbursed. The client always draws the short straw! This time the client needs to be the Dr. & his buddy. :D

Hopefully Apple covered all their bases with Bruce Sewell going over the agreement with a fine toothed comb. Please say so, Bruce! :eek:
 
ghostlines said:
All of a sudden...
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Ya think? Just goes to show that Bose can't compete even though they supposedly sound sooooooo much better.

Maybe Beats should sue Bose for trying to add colorful designs to their headphones. Of course, I'm joking. But Beats are nothing new. Bose just wants a piece of the Apple pie.

Careful Bose, Apple might not need you on store shelves much longer.
 
OtherJesus said:
Guess those Beats don't sound that bad after all, do they now?
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Naw, they still suck. I'm not saying Bose is any better. If I were to buy a pair of headphones, I'd probably look at either Sennheiser HD800's or Audeze. Maybe Stax if I could swing the price tag. Bose and Beats would not be a consideration. I'd rather buy something that will last a long time and give me top quality sound reproduction than having to constantly buy and rebuy cheap headphones that suck.
 
I believe Bose has been down this road before in defending the uniqueness (and patented) technique for ANR. Wasn't it AudioTechnica that was forced to make a design change in their ANR due to a Bose patent infringement?
 
Quadrant4 said:
Naw, they still suck. I'm not saying Bose is any better. If I were to buy a pair of headphones, I'd probably look at either Sennheiser HD800's or Audeze. Maybe Stax if I could swing the price tag. Bose and Beats would not be a consideration. I'd rather buy something that will last a long time and give me top quality sound reproduction than having to constantly buy and rebuy cheap headphones that suck.
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Go with high quality custom IEMs like the JH Audio Roxanne. The HD800 is nice but you can't wear that on the go.
 
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