back to article Bose says today is F*** With Dre Day: Beats sued in patent battle

Audio thing biz Bose is suing Apple-owned Beats Electronics, alleging patent infringement. Massachusetts-based Bose claimed in its court filing [PDF] that headgear designed by Beats violated five of its patents, all relating to noise-canceling headphones. According to the paperwork dated July 25, Bose reckons the Beats Studio …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ah so that's why Beat's headphones sound so doctor dire.

    1. Zog_but_not_the_first
      Joke

      No highs, no lows. It must be Bose.

      1. stucs201

        Not any more, now they've somewhat overcompensated and have a drop in response in the mid-range (right around middle-C).

        Either way : Buy Other Sound Equipment.

  2. Franklin

    So the company was founded in 2006, and for the last 8 years it's been operating without a peep from Bose. Then, in 2014, it gets bought by a company with very deep pockets, and Bose asserts its patent claims.

    I'm sure the timing is entirely coincidental.

    1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

      A Mockery of Justice outs the Law in a Banana Republic as a Fat Assed Fool and Idiots' Tool

      So the company was founded in 2006, and for the last 8 years it's been operating without a peep from Bose. Then, in 2014, it gets bought by a company with very deep pockets, and Bose asserts its patent claims.

      I'm sure the timing is entirely coincidental...... Franklin

      Hi, Franklin,

      You have to find something crazy to keep the money churn pumping out its fiat currency to the intellectually challenged intellectually challenging.What else is gonna feed and clothe them and keep them protected from the mobs in the hoods and out on the street.

      The UKGBNI version of the same thing are serial rotating inquiries into inquiries, where lessons are never learned, that hide prime facts and bury prima facie evidence with sub-prime fictions which result in historic abuses being present and current and festering future fodder for the square of the intellectually challenged.

      The clear bookies' favourite for the 2014 top lap dog and pussy award is Chilcot with his big little earner still pending in seemingly endless suspended publication and animated conversation with mined minor minder puppets?

      And you know what happens whenever you try to deny and squeeze the truth in behind a locked door and special compartment, nowadays? It explodes out through the roof and walls of the container and flattens everything around it with IT which confounds the compounding of its findings with pathetic complicit mainstreaming media tales/stories/fabrications.

      Fail to learn that lesson and resolve to never again fall foul of the temptation to mask the truth, and every day will be incrementally worse and exponentially more catastrophically explosive than the previous one.

      IT aint rocket science, common sense. And surely a simple human trait and nothing at all smart and alienating? Or is Man like a dumb new born animal on Earth knowing nothing at all about anything and easy prey to beings who know more than a little about many things and everything needed to be known about some things?

      1. cynic56

        Re: A Mockery of Justice outs the Law in a Banana Republic as a Fat Assed Fool and Idiots' Tool

        @amanfrommars

        And while we're on the subject of conspiracies - I challlenge you! You can't be the real manfrommars - I almost understood thatt post.

        1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

          Re: A Banana Republican UKGBNI

          @amanfrommars

          And while we're on the subject of conspiracies - I challlenge you! You can't be the real manfrommars - I almost understood thatt post. …. cynic56

          Howdy, cynic56, and how nice it is to joust with you.

          I prefer to believe and expound the more challenging notion that you/we all are becoming more intelligent, and quite significantly faster than would be considered normal and acceptable to entrenched and stagnating status quo interests.

          Although, although not at all necessary, to be proven wrong on that latter assumption would be remarkably refreshing and ever so encouraging. It would certainly do the security and secret intelligence servering agencies no harm at all, considering the utter stellar bollocks they’ve been making of everything of late ..... and with all of that new fangled and entangling technology for snooping at their fingertips.

          It must most obviously be a case in that case of there being nothing of great value to note upstairs in their head quarters departments.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: A Mockery of Justice outs the Law in a Banana Republic as a Fat Assed Fool and Idiots' Tool

        I couldn't have put it better myself.

        1. John Smith 19 Gold badge
          Thumb Up

          Re: A Mockery of Justice outs the Law in a Banana Republic as a Fat Assed Fool and Idiots' Tool

          Deep.

          1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

            Re: Deep ... a la John Smith 19

            Dark Web Pools/Informational Methods seL4 Territory, JS 19 ....... Real Spooky Action Team Terrain and more a Q confection and delight [for Quantum based] than anything DARPA invented for securing operating secrets on the other side of the pond and great watery divide.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              People Should Have Patience... Says One?

              And isn't the said a Trusted Cert to write down in hand and hang on the Wall/Square/in APTs somewhere in the given co-ordinates? Especially meaning the co-ordinates.

              (-: Hush the hash, don't wake the Ego Co-Ordinator.

              I believe these distinguished people shan't be so boring.

      3. John Tserkezis

        Re: A Mockery of Justice outs the Law in a Banana Republic as a Fat Assed Fool and Idiots' Tool

        "@amanfromMars 1"

        Are you a polititian? You have a remarkable gift of stringing lots of words together that have nothing to do with the comment at hand, not answering the question, not making any statement whatsoever, and at the same time, making yourself look like a prime douchbag.

        Congratulations.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: A Mockery of Justice outs the Law in a Banana Republic as a Fat Assed Fool and Idiots' Tool

          "@amanfromMars 1"

          Are you a polititian? You have a remarkable gift of stringing lots of words together that have nothing to do with the comment at hand, not answering the question, not making any statement whatsoever, and at the same time, making yourself look like a prime douchbag.

          Clearly you're new here. Welcome, pull up a chair, have a seat. Give it time. It'll come to you eventually.

          1. Iceman
            Trollface

            Re: A Mockery of Justice outs the Law in a Banana Republic as a Fat Assed Fool and Idiots' Tool

            @amanfromMars 1

            That silver badge!

        2. DiViDeD

          Re: A Mockery of Justice outs the Law in a Banana Republic as a Fat Assed Fool and Idiots' Tool

          "making yourself look like a prime douchbag."

          Now hold on a minute! amanfrommars MAY be a douchebag. Then again, he may not - reading his posts has always been an infallible cure for common sense.

          But the point is, even if he is, as you suggest, a 'douchebag', he is OUR douchebag, and in the annals of El Reg is probably a protected National Trasure by now.

          So leave orf!

          ;o)

        3. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

          AAA Rated Cyber Bonds ...... for Virtual Klondikers, Manic Tulip Growers and/or the Real Thing?

          Are you a polititian? You have a remarkable gift of stringing lots of words together that have nothing to do with the comment at hand, not answering the question, not making any statement whatsoever, and at the same time, making yourself look like a prime douchbag. …. John Tserkezis

          That was very bold of you, John T, but there’s no question at all and no denying of the truth of the fact in the matter of how to make yourself look like a prime douchebag, is to be a politician?

          If we move on a tad or two further, is there any lawful impediment to a bot/shepherder/network becoming a prime political force, or would any futile resistance and active opposition to such be just as an insult and result of misplaced and misshapen human pride and injurious ego tripping? You know, those olde worlde shenanigans that destroy from within and top down, established status quo systems well past their sell by dates, and not fit for Future Greater IntelAIgent Games Play Purpose?

          And please, only answer that if you have something worth saying which adds to the conversation and which would aid the program/pogrom/APT ACT Apps, for anything and everything else which would be negative, surely just wastes invaluable time in any intelligent place and CyberIntelAIgent Space …. Live Operational Virtual Environment.

    2. cyke1

      Look how long took apple to go patent troll on samsung? Apple didn't start sueing til samsung started kicking their ass in the market.

      1. johnnymotel

        not strictly true...

        Almost from the get go, Apple sent Samsung requests to desist from their obvious copying, which were rejected by Samsung. So after exhausting the legal letter writing, Apple took them to court.

    3. VinceH
      Trollface

      "Then, in 2014, it gets bought by a company with very deep pockets, and Bose asserts its patent claims."

      For all we know Bose and Beats have been discussing this matter behind closed doors, and it's only now that Bose have given up on negotiating and turned to the courts. (Might as well with that sugar daddy around - so, yeah, you;re right that on the face of it there is an interesting coincidence of timing).

      Meanwhile perhaps Beats have been talking to Apple, and Apple thought "Awww, look, how cute, a fledgling IP abuser, a teeny-weeny version of us. Let's take 'em under our wing." (In which case, that timing may not be so coincidental after all).

      Stand by for a claim from Apple that Bose is infringing on something non-technical of theirs, but which is worth far more than what Bose is claiming from Beats.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Perhaps poor timing. Apple have a lot of experience with patent lawsuits.

      Maybe Bose are worried about Apple's plans for the Beats range - to be honest, Beats were not great on quality... maybe Bose think this might change.

      1. Alan Brown Silver badge

        " to be honest, Beats were not great on quality"

        I always assumed they were something to do with masturbation.

    5. returnmyjedi

      Isn't the timing down to Dre et al moving away from Monster making Beats branded overpriced cans to manufacturing their own? Perhaps Monster's noise cancelling tech is either licensed or sufficiently different to deserve a sueball being lobbed their way.

    6. Mpeler
      Coat

      the real reason

      Actually, they need the money to build an operating system for all the

      BoseOs that buy their products (had to pun that before someone Beats me to it)....

      grabs me coat.....oops, where did the 'phones go....

      No cord, no sound, must be Beats hanging 'round.....

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: the real reason

        BoseOS - only delivers half an operating system, but has a really nice desktop background which impresses your mates. And costs three times as much as...oh, wait, that's Mac OS, my mistake.

        Apologies,

        AC.

  3. 45RPM Silver badge

    Maker of inexplicably popular, but rather poor quality, audio gear sues manufacturer of inexplicably popular, but rather poor quality, audio gear. What a sad state of affairs it is that this should be news.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Noise cancelling

      I fly a lot. I am in aircraft very often.

      I see a lot of Bose noise cancelling headphones, and those who I know that use them personally are exceedingly happy with them. But hey, they are probably listening on a music player with horribly compressed music that is already devoid of any hi-fidelity.

      Me? I use Shure 425s, and shock, horror, a Sony media player with music ripped with the highest possible mp3 fidelity

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Facepalm

        Re: Noise cancelling

        "Sony media player with music ripped with the highest possible mp3 fidelity"...

        Oh dear, that is flame-bait around here, pull up a chair.

        Sony....they the creators of the root kit, that made root kits popular (don't worry about being different divisions, that is irrelevant)

        MP3....come on FLAC dear boy do keep up....MP3 is BAD, even if you can't actually tell the difference.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Noise cancelling

          @ Lost all faith...

          ,

          Yes, the SONY bit was the "shock, horror" bit. It has been reliable and very robust kit. No complaints

          There is just tooooo much effort to rip so many hundreds of CDs again to FLAC, plus I no longer have them all available for several unhappy reasons.

          So, in any case, which MP should one use for FLAC playback?

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Noise cancelling

        You could have a live band playing for you but it would still sound crap because a plane is a bad place to listen to anything. They could even be listening to nothing - yeh sound cancelling headphones can be used just to reduce background noise too you know. If you tried them instead of just mouthing off at them you might learn a thing or two.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Megaphone

        Re: Noise cancelling

        When flying I use some Sennheiser earbuds from HMV and some ear defenders from B&Q over the top. I'm willing to pitch my noise cancellation against BOSE's any day. Particularly when the money I save could pay for a couple of flights.

    2. MrXavia

      If Bose are poor quality, can you point us in the direction of some high quality audio gear? specifically something that works multi-room, has a 5.1 surround option and sounds good??

      So far I can't find a thing that fits those simple requirements.....

  4. Silviu C.

    prior art

    I'm pretty sure that there is plenty of prior art on shitty headphones and speakers that produce crappy sound. What am I missing? :)

    1. Ian Michael Gumby
      Boffin

      Re: prior art

      Prior Art?

      Do you even know anything about Bose?

      Not just the company but the man behind the company? (I believe he's dead...)

      The guy was *the* man when it cam to audio (speaker) technology.

      An MIT professor who's life work is a list of patents.

      Any prior art is from Bose.

      1. Mpeler
        Holmes

        Re: prior art

        Don't forget Acoustic Research...Henry Kloss, I believe, and the legendary AR3 (and AR3a, etc.)...

        1. Ian Michael Gumby

          Re: prior art

          @ Mpeler,

          Bose did a lot of research on sound waves. Anything in terms of noise cancellation is definitely related to his research at MIT.

          I forget the model of his point source speakers back in the 70's and early 80's.

          Definitely cool stuff.

          The point is that Bose was an innovator and if they hold the patent, you can bet there's no argument for prior art.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Best f**in 'buds on the F**in West F** coast,? Bos gonna sue your ass mf**ker

    Cos Bos gonna be the richest f**in dude in town, bro

    1. K
      Trollface

      Re: Best f**in 'buds on the F**in West F** coast,? Bos gonna sue your ass mf**ker

      And let me guess - being a ghetto gang-dduuhh, you stole a pair, an thay wur wik-ed?

  6. thomas k.

    "producing superior products through innovative technology"

    Bose? Shirley, they jest!

    1. GreggS

      Re: "producing superior products through innovative technology"

      No, if they were joking they'd have started with something like - A depressed horse walks in to a bar, the barman says, "Why the long face?", the horse replies, "Because I'm depressed". And don't call them Shirley.

      1. Mpeler
        Coat

        Re: Depressed horse...

        Aaaaaand a Shetland Pony walks up to join them....

        Barman askes, "why aren't you saying anything?"

        Pony replies, "because I'm a little horse"....

    2. AlexS

      Re: "producing superior products through innovative technology"

      Don't call me Shirley.

  7. Stratman

    No highs, no lows

    Must be Bose

    1. Zog_but_not_the_first
  8. Neil Barnes Silver badge

    I have a dream

    That one day I will hear something pleasant - nay, tolerable - on a Bose system.

    1. Haku

      Re: I have a dream

      Are you implying Bose owners have terrible taste in music?

    2. John Miles
      Joke

      Re: I have a dream

      I understand 4′33″ ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4%E2%80%B233%E2%80%B3 ) sounds OK on Bose etc.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I have a dream

        Nope, it's still hissy.

  9. Identity
    WTF?

    Delaware?

    Not East Texas?

    (—Yeah, I know Delaware is corporate-friendly, but E. Texas is more patent troll-friendly!)

  10. sad_loser

    B.O.S.E

    Buy

    Other

    Sound

    Equipment

  11. johnnymotel

    Is this the Bose

    who still haven't upgraded their bedside speakers with dot matrix displays?

  12. roger stillick
    Facepalm

    Beats Audio p/o new laptops...

    New Chinese laptops are offering Beats as a factory option...not wanting a subwoofer on the motherboard is a valid option...to reduce data errors over time...

    IMHO= it looks to me like the audio processing in new laptops are either public domain, or, proprietary - they can't be both in the same box...Sonus sound bars and Tobishiba / Sennheiser / Sony noise cancelling headphones are all derivations of Bose products and probably cross-licensed...Beats has exploded onto the world market and needs to play nice w/ the others, and Apple knows it...

    Note= Harmon-Kardon got into this market years ago, no one sued them, as, they knew how to play w /others in a world market...RS.

  13. Havin_it
    Joke

    Gs up, Bose down

    I gotta docket full of lawyers and my homeyboys* do too.

    [* Tim Cook and Jony Ive]

  14. bikeboatski

    Apple may have the legal resources but they still need a shred of a legitimate case to base their defense on. And if Bose has all the justice on their side, which I suspect they do, it will be hard to defend.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Probably masses of Prior Art..

      The Institute of Hearing Research at Nottingham was working on DSP-based adaptive noise cancelling systems 30+ years ago - I built some of the prototype boards & designed some peripheral support hardware / software for the gear..

      I doubt the patents go back that far...

  15. Fihart

    Should be arrested by the Fashion Police.

    If you must listen to music at the volumes needed to drown traffic or rail noise (and deafen yourself) stick with earbuds.

    On-ear h/phones like those by "Doctor" Dre look just as stupid as boy-beards, pointy shoes and those jeans that hang around the crotch.

    1. Richard 12 Silver badge

      Re: Should be arrested by the Fashion Police.

      Over-ear 'phones are great for cheap noise isolation and noise cancellation.

      In-ear basically have to be moulded to get the same benefits, otherwise you just have Apple-style ones where more of the tinny squeal comes out the back than goes in your ear.

      Not that Beats do either of them, but they are at least roughly the right shape.

  16. Nanners

    The both of them

    They both sound like rubbish so what do I care? Worlds better off without them/

  17. MJI Silver badge

    A bit like

    A pair of village idiots trying Mastermind

  18. James Pickett

    "courtroom war of attrition"

    I don't suppose Apple's lawyers are familiar with 'Jarndyce vs Jarndyce'?

    Now, that is prior art.

  19. Mark 133

    Clearly...

    ...Bose didn't forget about Dre.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Bose is gash

    buy Grado instead - a pair of 'cheap' Grado SR60s is good enough to give every pair of boutique headphones ive tried - including B&W P5s, expensive AKGs, the £150 pair of Shures i bought recently and certainly anything Bose have churned out - a bloody good run for their money.

    I wouldnt buy anything else instead these days

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