Apple has settled a lawsuit brought by Koss over patents for wireless headphones, Reuters reports. Koss had alleged that Apple's AirPods and Beats ranges had infringed on its wireless headphones patents. The two companies reached a settlement agreement on Saturday ahead of the case's scheduled start date of Monday 25th July.
The terms of the settlement remain confidential. The two firms said they have made peace on "all matters in controversy."
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright (in Waco, Texas) dismissed the case with prejudice on the same day. That means the case is closed and cannot be refiled.
Koss originally filed the lawsuit in 2020, alongside similar suits with Bose, JLab, Plantronics and Skullcandy. Koss accused all these firms of copying technology used in its Striva line of wi-fi headphones, which launched back in the early 2000s. Koss claimed that these rivals had now "caught up to Koss's early 2000s vision" and that its technology had "become standardized, with whole listening ecosystems having been built around the techniques Koss conceived of over a decade ago." Hence Koss wanted compensation.
Apple countersued, arguing that Koss' patents were invalid and that its complaint included confidential information from Apple's licensing discussions.
The lawsuits with Bose et al. are still pending. We'll have to wait and see whether they move forward, or if these firms follow Apple in reaching agreement.
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