Bose has filed a lawsuit against headphone-maker Beats Eletronics, alleging patent infringements centered around noise-canceling technology.
The lawsuit claims that Beats has infringed on five ideas patented by Bose having to do with noise-canceling headphones, in particular the Beats "Studio" and "Studio Wireless" products. CNBC first reported the lawsuit, which can be found in its entirety at the bottom of this post.
[seealso slug=http://sale-online.click/2014/05/29/beats-apple-ipod/%5D%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3E%3C/p%3E%3Cp%3EBose released a statement to Mashable saying that it does not comment on active litigation but also stressing its investment in new sound technology.
"The filing is comprehensive and explains our position, and as a matter of practice, we don’t comment on ongoing 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 wrote in the statement. "We are committed to protecting our investment, protecting our customers, and defending the patents we own."
Bose has been a long-time player in the high-end headphone market, focusing on quality over style. Beats grew as quite the opposite -- with flashy, stylized and equally expensive products with a sound that had not been particularly well-received.
Despite the sound issues, Beats took less than six years to become the dominant player in the premium headphone industry with 64% of the market.
Apple bought Beats in late May for $3 billion, the largest acquisition in the iPhone-maker's history.
The timing of the lawsuit caused some to wonder if Bose had been biding its time until Beats had deeper pockets, like those of Apple.
Penalty paid for being a rich acquirer “@ScottMcGrew: cnbc: Bose sues Apple's Beats for stealing/copying 36 patented ideas in headphones.”— Jan Dawson (@jandawson) July 25, 2014
Like how they waited for deep pockets. RT @CNBC: BREAKING: Bose sues Apple's Beats over noise-canceling headphone patents. (via @CNBCJosh)— Ivan the K™ (@IvanTheK) July 25, 2014
Beats Electronics spokeswoman Sarah Joyce declined to comment.