HP’s Poly has defeated a patent lawsuit brought forward by Koss Corporation over Poly’s BackBeat headphones’ alleged infringement of Koss’ wireless headphones patents. 

According to Reuters, Koss developed a wireless-headphone system in the early 2000s. It subsequently patented “wireless headphones… [that can be] wirelessly connected to some kind of a source, be it a handheld computing device or in the cloud”. 

The U.S. District Judge, Jon Tigar, ruled that the Koss patents are invalid because their patented inventions, regarding audio streaming to headphones via a wireless network, are too abstract to be enforced. 

Tigar outlined Poly’s argument: “Koss alleges that Poly infringes on these patents by ‘importing, offering to sell, and selling… products that infringe the asserted patents’. 

“Poly now moves to dismiss Koss’s first amended complaint with prejudice. Poly argues that the patents are invalid because ‘they are broadly directed to the abstract idea of wireless communication over a network and fail to recite any inventive concept’, and are thus ineligible for patenting under 35 U.S.C.” 

Tigar made his ruling on Wednesday, a Reuters report states, and gave Koss 21 days in which to amend its lawsuit. 

In 2020, when Koss filed the lawsuit against Poly, it also sued a number of other wireless headphones and earbuds makers for infringing on its patents, including Apple and Bose. 

Koss settled its lawsuit against Apple over the alleged patent infringement of its AirPod earbuds and Beats headphones. The case against Bose is still ongoing. 

Koss is a US-based headphones designer and manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company was founded in 1953 as a television rental business by John Koss under the name of “J.C. Koss Hospital Television Rental Co.”. 

In 1958, Koss released its first stereophone. The technology agency, System Baba, states: “A decade after introducing the first stereo headphones, Koss unleashed the first US-made electrostatic model. 

“The ESP-6’s clocked in at around two pounds, meaning they weren’t exactly like putting in a pair of earbuds but were still a long way from the massive pieces created less than a century before.” 

The case is officially called Koss Corp v. Plantronics Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 4:21-cv-03854. 

The legal representatives for Koss are Benjamin Weed and Philip Kunz of K&L Gates. Representing Poly are Eimeric Reig-Plessis and Samantha Lerner of Winston & Strawn. 

Poly recently released the Poly Edge E Series IP desk phones, which have been certified by Zoom Phone, Microsoft Teams, and more. The company also received a string of Zoom and Teams certifications for other business phones and meeting room devices. 

UC Today explored the Edge E Series in a discussion with Gavin Sear, Director of Theatre Product Marketing at Poly. 

 

 



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