Headphone maker, Koss Corp has settled its patent infringement lawsuit with Apple. Reuters reports that the case was supposed to go to trial on coming Monday but both companies have now reached an agreement on the issue outside the courtroom.
In 2020, Koss accused Apple of infringing several of its wireless-headphone patents. The company told the court the current wireless-headphone industry is conceived on its early 2000s technology.
And in its case against the Cupertino tech giant, Koss demanded that Apple pays it royalties from AirPods and Beats headphones sales.
Koss told the Texas court it turned to litigation because the headphone industry had “caught up to Koss’s early 2000s vision” and its technology had “become standardized, with whole listening ecosystems having been built around the techniques Koss conceived of over a decade ago.”
Apple keeps the terms of its settlement with Koss hushed
In response to the Koss lawsuit, the Cupertino tech giant filed a counter lawsuit in San Francisco accusing Koss of breaching the confidentiality agreement by revealing sensitive information from their licensing discussions.
Now, according to the filing, “all matters in controversy between them” have been settled, and “the U.S. District Judge Alan Albright dismissed the case with prejudice the same day, which means it cannot be refiled”. But the terms of the settlement agreement were not disclosed.
AirPods is one of Apple’s successful products. Launched in 2016, AirPods deliver “an unparalleled” wireless experience with high-quality audio. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Apple shipped 108.9 million AirPods and Beats headphones which were more than the combined number of audio products sold by Samsung, Xiaomi, Sony, and Edifier.
And in Q1, 2022, Apple wearables and home accessories accounted for $14.7 billion in revenue \ with 13% Year-over-Year growth out of the company’s $124 billion in revenue. Maybe the Cupertino tech giant did not want to risk an unfavorable ruling by going to trial on the Koss infringement case.
Apple is also facing another patent infringement case over the AirPods Pro noise cancellation tech filed by wearable manufacturer Jawbone.
