Strategy in TECH...
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced that this week it was preemptively removing certain models of its Apple Watch line from its online store on Thursday, and from its physical retail stores by December 24th. The products affected by this action are the Series 9 and Ultra 2 Watch models which include pulse oximetry technology that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) determined infringed on patents held by Masimo Corp. (NASDAQ: MASI).
What a year it’s been for Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ: MASI), the manufacturer of medical products sold largely to hospitals and other healthcare systems who is also the owner of Sound United, a leading manufacturer of audio products. Simply saying they’ve been through highs and lows would understate the high drama in which the company has been immersed this past year – not the least of which is embodied by its deathmatch with Apple, Inc., the largest company in the world. Apple is also regularly ranked as the most profitable company in the world – a well-resourced adversary to engage thoughtfully…and carefully.
Some impressive early Masimo wins in this battle with Apple, however, seemed to suggest that the tech behemoth was losing its balance and the altercation might be winnable by its much smaller rival. But then…
A former associate of Head Monster Noel Lee (and Paris Hilton) remains in jail in Los Angeles after a judge dismissed a murder-for-hire case against him over technical questions of venue. Prosecutors accused Fereidoun “Prince Fred” or “Fred” Khalilian of paying his bodyguard to kill a documentary filmmaker who was ostensibly working on a movie exposing Khalilian’s alleged life of fraud.
Masimo Corporation (NASDAQ: MASI) scored a big win Thursday in its ongoing battles with Apple, Inc. when the United States International Trade Commission (USITC or ITC) sided largely with Masimo and issued a Limited Exclusion Order and a Cease and Desist Order against certain Apple Watch models that infringe on select Masimo patents. This exclusion order bans the import of those models that incorporate Masimo’s patented light-based pulse oximetry technology in violation of U.S. trade laws.
MQA Limited has notified Companies House, the U.K. government agency that is roughly equivalent to our Securities and Exchange Commission, that it has changed its name. After nine years as MQA Limited, the company will now be known as Wave Realisations Limited.
After receiving an extension from the court giving them more time to respond, AVA, Inc. and Josh.ai, Inc. formally filed their responses to the Snap One, LLC lawsuit filed against them this past summer. With these filings, we have completed the end of the beginning of what will undoubtedly be a long dance marathon of patent and trade secret litigation.
In a shocking twist to a long-running patent battle, U.S. District Court Judge William H Alsup declared Sonos’ ‘966 and ‘885 patents at trial are unenforceable and invalid effectively countermanding a jury decision on behalf of Sonos and a royalty award of $32.5 million. Furthermore, the judge’s order suggests that Sonos abused the patent system by attempting to use it to “punish an innovator” and to “enrich a[n] [innovation] pretender.”
On Monday, Snap One revealed that it had filed a lawsuit against two other well-known, if smaller, brands, alleging patent infringement and a range of illicit and unethical business practices that it claims violated existing contractual agreements. The defendants in this matter are Josh.ai and AVA.
The allegations, if true, are really quite surprising.
It was eight years ago – all the way back to January 2015 – when I first reported on what looked to be a pretty ugly legal action beginning between Monster, LLC and Beats Electronics, LLC. While the lawsuit filed by Monster took place in January 2015, the actions that led them to that point actually began much earlier than that, all the way back to 2011. And the relationship between the two significant CE brands actually began even further back to 2009, when the two came together to create Beats by Dr. Dre headphones, the wildly popular consumer headphone brand.
But when the relationship ended…it ended badly…
The Minnesota District Court for the Fourth Judicial District in the County of Hennepin held a hearing on Tuesday to determine the final disposition of the insolvent Audio Research Corporation which is operating under Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors (ABC) – a form of receivership. The assignee in this case, Patrick Finn of Lighthouse Management Group had executed an Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) with Acora Acoustics and was seeking an order from the judge to approve the APA and the transfer of the assets free and clear of any and all liens to Acora Acoustics.
