Apple and its tryst with patent lawsuits never seem to end. The most recent of the companies to sue Apple is THX, a sound innovation company with George Lucas as its founder. The company filed a case in the US District Court for the Northern District of California claiming that several models of the company’s flagship devices i.e. the iPhone, iPad and iMac infringe on a single patent which provide schematics for a narrow profile speaker. The complaint accuses Apple of knowingly continuing to infringe upon THX’s patent which provides an efficient method for enhancing sound quality in compact arrangements in consumer electronics products like televisions and computers.
Reports on Bloomberg suggest that THX claims Apple’s violation of these patents caused monetary damages and harm beyond repair. The company is now seeking damages or royalties for the potential profits that it lost to Apple as a result of the infringement. THX was founded in 2002 and is popularly known for its theatre sound technology. They hold several patents pertaining to acoustics and speaker hardware. The complaint against Apple is an attempt at leveraging a covering system that ensures that a speaker delivers quality audio in a confined area. In fact, one of the patent claims is based on the fact that the output aperture, also known as the speaker duct, is narrow in comparison to the speaker face.
This patent essentially describes positions that different components in a speaker system must be placed in order to obtain sound of the highest quality. For example, this patent mentions the use of a sound reflecting surface placed parallel with the face of the speaker and also describes the use of sound dampening material which is placed around the mounting and reflecting surfaces to create an acoustically isolated environment. Essentially, sound gets channelled through a duct positioned at right angles to the drive unit. All iPhone models since the 4S are claimed to have been infringing this patent. The speakers on the latest iMac present the most compelling case of infringement, although it is unclear whether the iMac actually uses the schematics mentioned in the patent.
Apple is known to own several speaker-centric patents which are linked directly to portable devices like the iPhone and iPad. Recently, the company was granted a patent titled ‘low-profile speaker arrangements for compact electronic devices’, which could share some claims from THX’s patent as well. The initial case management conference between the two parties is scheduled for June 14.
