Apple, Koss Avoid Heading to Trial Over AirPods-Related Patents

pcmag.com:

Apple won't have to head to court to defend the design of its earbuds and headphones after all.

Reuters reports(Opens in a new window) that Apple settled with Koss, which has been in the headphones business since the '50s, mere days before the case was set to go to trial.

Koss filed the patent infringement lawsuit(Opens in a new window)—which concerns the AirPods, AirPods Pro, and Beats headphones alike—after it met with Apple several times between September 2017 and July 2020. When they couldn't reach an agreement, the company filed the lawsuit in Waco, Texas.

Koss said in the lawsuit that it believed "Apple is liable to Koss in an amount that compensates it for such infringement, which by law cannot be less than a reasonable royalty, together with interest and costs as fixed by this Court."

Assuming those royalties were awarded, Koss could have earned a pretty penny. Statista reported(Opens in a new window) in February that Apple leads the US headphone market—to say nothing of the global market—thanks to the popularity of its AirPods product lines and Beats headphones.

Now the companies say they have settled "all matters in controversy between them," according to Reuters, which reports that the judge set to hear the case has dismissed it with prejudice as a result. That means Koss won't be able to file a similar lawsuit against Apple over these patents.

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