Apple-owned Beats Electronics and Bose settle over headphone patent dispute
Apple’s Beats Electronics and Bose have buried the hatchet, at least in the courtroom. According to Bloomberg, the companies have settled a patent dispute over noise-canceling headphones.
Bose originally filed the lawsuit against Beats back in July, shortly after Apple completed a purchase of the company for $3 billion.
After filing suit, Bose also asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to block imports of Beats Studio and Beats Studio wireless headphones because of the dispute. That request has also been canceled.
While the legal dramatics are over, that doesn’t mean competition has stopped. After Bose struck a huge deal with the NFL to become the official headphone of the football league, players were recently banned from wearing Beats on camera at official events.
For its part, Apple will reportedly remove any Bose products from its retail stores in the near future. It’s unknown which company chose to end the relationship.
Beats has huge lead in the premium headphones market with 61 percent. Bose has around a 22 percent market share.
For other recent news, see: Release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus led to record accessory sales, Apple sapphire supplier GT Advanced will shut down Arizona, Massachusetts plants, and Boost Mobile will start offering the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus next week with a $100 discount.
