Ondrej Holzman Apple is facing yet another lawsuit, but this time from an as-yet-unknown adversary. The California-based company is being sued by THX, an audio-visual equipment company, alleging that Apple infringes its loudspeaker patent, in iMac, iPhone and iPad.
THX, whose roots go back to George Lucas and his Lucasfilm 30 years ago, holds a 2008 patent for speakers, boosting their power and then connecting them to computers or flat-screen TVs. THX then complains in the federal court in San José that iMacs, iPads and iPhones infringe this very patent.
THX further claims that Apple's actions have caused it financial and irreparable harm, and so it wants either to prevent further infringement of its patent or to obtain adequate compensation for its lost earnings. However, the two companies have until May 14, when they are to meet together in court, a chance for an out-of-court settlement. If this does not happen, Apple will probably challenge the validity of this patent in court.
However, it most significantly violates it, or rather imitates the latest iMac that it has long channels, which conduct the sound to the bottom edge of the machine.
The interesting thing about the whole case is that Tom Holman, the creator of the original THX standard, joined Apple in mid-2011 to provide technical oversight of audio development.
Who handles what...
Like someone defending their intellectual property from someone who is just waiting for someone to come up with something and then just copy it and sell it under their brand name? If it was your business, you would jump like a devil out of a box.