According to the latest report, Apple has reached a settlement with the plaintiff in an AirPods patent infringement case. It is reported that Seung Jin Kim and Pinn Inc previously sued Apple for patent infringement.
Specifically, they claimed that the original AirPods, which went on the market six years ago, infringed on their patents related to wireless earphone technology.
Join us on Telegram
Plaintiff Kim alleges that he filed a patent eight years ago to solve the problems that plagued older, bulky Bluetooth headset products and to invent a redesigned, re-architected hands-free wireless headset technology that makes the earbuds smaller, lighter, longer battery life, and more ear-friendly in design.
Kim conceived the idea of a “smart box”, sketching it in pencil in January 2015. The version of the “smart box” in Kim’s sketches had a speaker, LCD screen, and a clip that could be attached to the placket of a shirt, the testimony showed.
Kim wanted Apple to pay them 60 cents in royalties for every set of AirPods sold, which at the time totaled $42 million. While Kim does hold two patents on wireless earphone technology, Apple argues that the company’s work on AirPods goes back a decade before the product launched.
The jury selection process in the case was supposed to begin today, but the court was notified that Apple and Kim had reached a settlement, meaning Apple gave Kim a sum of money to drop the case.
Moreover, Apple had previously been sued by Jawbone and Koss over AirPods, and finally settled privately. Shortly after the Beats acquisition, Apple was also sued by Bose over its headphone technology, and finally reached a settlement.
