Apple Countersues US Stereo Headphone Inventor Koss in Response to Patent Lawsuit

Apple is countersuing Stereophone inventor and audio manufacturer Koss over a patent lawsuit it recently filed in Waco, Texas, accusing Apple and several audio companies of violating patents relating to its wireless headphone technology.

koss
In the Koss lawsuit, originally spotted by Patently Apple, AirPods and Beats wireless headphones are accused of violating five patents relating to wireless headphone technology that Koss essentially says it pioneered in the industry. The four patents describe wireless earphones that involve a transceiver circuit, enabling a device to stream audio from a digital audio player, computer, or wireless network.

Koss said Apple was aware of these patents and met several times to discuss using them, before deciding not to license any of the company's technology. Koss now wants an unspecified amount in compensation for the alleged infringements, "which by law cannot be less than a reasonable royalty, together with interests and costs."

In Apple's filing registered with the U.S. District Court for the Northern California on August 8, however, it claims Koss' allegations are "baseless." Moreover, it alleges that the lawsuit also breaks a written confidentiality agreement that Koss demanded and Apple ultimately agreed to in 2017.

According to the agreement, neither Apple nor Koss "would use or attempt to use any Communications [between the parties], or the existence thereof, in a litigation or any other administrative or court proceeding for any purpose."

According to the terms of the Confidentiality Agreement, while the agreement was in force, Apple could not advise a Court of Koss' threats to file baseless infringement claims or ask a Court to declare Apple's rights and resolve the legal uncertainty it faced. The Confidentiality Agreement also restricted how Apple could disclose and use the existence and contents of the discussions. But the agreement also protected Apple—Koss was not permitted to later use the fact that Apple had agreed to a discussion with Koss, or the contents of the discussion, against Apple in litigation.

In other words, having enticed Apple to participate in discussions, reveal information, and forego some of its legal options, Koss could not use Apple's participation against it as a "gotcha" to bring claims in a later litigation.

Apple now says this is precisely what Koss has done in bringing the lawsuit, thereby rendering it invalid. In addition to the alleged breach of contract, Apple also submitted documentary evidence that it says proves that it hasn't violated any of the patents cited by Koss in its original litigation.

Apart from Apple, other companies targeted by the Koss lawsuit include Bose, JLab, Plantronics, and Skullcandy, all of which allegedly violate Koss patents related to in-ear wireless headphones technology that is now used widely in the audio market.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...

Top Rated Comments

Apple Knowledge Navigator Avatar
67 months ago
Jeez with the amount of court cases Apple deals with, you’d swear they run a Fortune 500 law company
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spock Avatar
67 months ago
Haven’t had Koss headphones since the early 1990’s, didn’t even know they were still around...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gridlocked Avatar
67 months ago

They are just suing Apple Koss they've nothing better to do. How come they haven't gone after every single other manufacture of wireless headphones, there are thousands of them out there
The story mentions that they are going after other manufacturers, reading is fundamental.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
67 months ago

Well, Apple says Koss' allegations are "baseless", so we can move on.
They explain why they are baseless in some detail, if you bother to read their complaint.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
67 months ago

Koss was junk back in the 90s and still junk today. I remember installing Koss stereos into cars at Circuit City. The backlighting on these would randomly break after a week. They were used as the attraction. "Get a new CD player for your car for only $75 + installation!!". We had to up sell everyone to the next cheapest stereo of $150 because we knew that they would be back to return the Koss junk.
Whether or not their products are junk is irrelevant. The suit is about patents, not the quality of Koss' products.

They are just suing Apple Koss they've nothing better to do. How come they haven't gone after every single other manufacture of wireless headphones, there are thousands of them out there
Sometimes it pays to read the article before commenting. Relying on the headline can lead to missing important information like this from the first sentence:

Apple is countersuing Stereophone inventor and audio manufacturer Koss ('https://www.koss.com') over a patent lawsuit it recently filed in Waco, Texas, accusing Apple and several audio companies of violating patents relating to its wireless headphone technology.
Expanded upon in the last sentence:

Apart from Apple, other companies targeted by the Koss lawsuit include Bose, JLab, Plantronics, and Skullcandy, all of which allegedly violate Koss patents related to in-ear wireless headphones technology that is now used widely in the audio market.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Analog Kid Avatar
67 months ago

('https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/10/apple-countersues-koss-patent-lawsuit/')

Apple is countersuing Stereophone inventor and audio manufacturer Koss ('https://www.koss.com') over a patent lawsuit it recently filed in Waco, Texas, accusing Apple and several audio companies of violating patents relating to its wireless headphone technology.



In the Koss lawsuit, originally spotted by Patently Apple ('https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2020/07/koss-an-american-pioneer-in-headphones-has-filed-a-five-count-patent-infringement-lawsuit-against-apple.html#:~:text=locally%20in%20India-,Koss%2C%20an%20American%20Pioneer%20in%20Headphones%2C%20has%20filed%20a%20Five,Patent%20Infringement%20Lawsuit%20against%20Apple&text=The%20SP%2F3%20Stereophone%20provided,sounds%20of%20a%20concert%20hall.'), AirPods and Beats wireless headphones are accused of violating five patents relating to wireless headphone technology that Koss essentially says it pioneered in the industry. The four patents describe wireless earphones that involve a transceiver circuit, enabling a device to stream audio from a digital audio player, computer, or wireless network.

Koss said Apple was aware of these patents and met several times to discuss using them, before deciding not to license any of the company's technology. Koss now wants an unspecified amount in compensation for the alleged infringements, "which by law cannot be less than a reasonable royalty, together with interests and costs."

In Apple's filing ('https://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2020/08/apple-files-a-six-count-countersuit-against-koss-corporation-for-breach-of-contract-and-more.html') registered with the U.S. District Court for the Northern California on August 8, however, it claims Koss' allegations are "baseless." Moreover, it alleges that the lawsuit also breaks a written confidentiality agreement that Koss demanded and Apple ultimately agreed to in 2017.

According to the agreement, neither Apple nor Koss "would use or attempt to use any Communications [between the parties], or the existence thereof, in a litigation or any other administrative or court proceeding for any purpose."
Apple now says this is precisely what Koss has done in bringing the lawsuit, thereby rendering it invalid. In addition to the alleged breach of contract, Apple also submitted documentary evidence that it says proves that it hasn't violated any of the patents cited by Koss in its original litigation.

Apart from Apple, other companies targeted by the Koss lawsuit include Bose, JLab, Plantronics, and Skullcandy, all of which allegedly violate Koss patents related to in-ear wireless headphones technology that is now used widely in the audio market.

Article Link: Apple Countersues US Stereo Headphone Inventor Koss in Response to Patent Lawsuit ('https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/10/apple-countersues-koss-patent-lawsuit/')
It would be a great help if you could also provide direct links to the PDFs of complaints like this (and patents when discussed). There's a link to Patently Apple, which includes a Scribd link, but that's a lousy way of reading a document. I've been hunting for the PDF and can't seem to find it online. This is a public document, right? I don't see a reason I need to create an account with Sribd or anyone else to download it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)