Cooper Bauck Corp. Announces Settlement of Patent Infringement Lawsuit.TEMPE, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 24, 1998--Cooper Bauck Corp. Thursday announced the settlement of a patent infringement patent infringement n. the manufacture and/or use of an invention or improvement for which someone else owns a patent issued by the government, without obtaining permission of the owner of the patent by contract, license or waiver. suit it brought against Philips Electronics NV Philips Electronics NV in full Royal Philips Electronics NV Dutch Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV Major Dutch manufacturer of consumer electronics, household appliances, lightbulbs, and imaging equipment. of the Netherlands and three of its subsidiaries in 1996. The suit, settled earlier this year, alleged that Philips had sold audio products which infringed patents held by Cooper Bauck. The Cooper Bauck patents relate to technology in the field of three dimensional audio, or 3D audio. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The 3D audio technology of Cooper Bauck Corp., called Transaural(TM) Stereo, allows precisely imaged sound to appear in all directions around a listener's head while using only two loudspeakers. In one implementation, the effect is even more convincing than playback systems which use multichannel Using two or more paths for transmission or processing. It can refer to a variety of architectures including (1) multiple I/O channels between the CPU and peripheral devices, (2) multiple wires in a cable, (3) multiple "logical" channels within a single wire or fiber or (4) multiple methods such as popular five channel home theater An audio/video entertainment center that has a large-screen TV and hi-fi system with three speakers in the front (left, right and center) and left and right speakers in the rear. Starting in the early 1990s, video inputs were added to stereo receivers and preamplifiers. systems. In another implementation, the five or more loudspeakers of a home theater are accurately simulated, again using only two actual loudspeakers. The Cooper Bauck patents are basic, senior patents dating from 1987 through 1994. The patents describe practical and efficient ways of implementing the processes. "We are glad to have concluded this matter and are satisfied with the settlement terms," said Dr. Jerry Bauck, president of Cooper Bauck Corp. In a consent decree A settlement of a lawsuit or criminal case in which a person or company agrees to take specific actions without admitting fault or guilt for the situation that led to the lawsuit. A consent decree is a settlement that is contained in a court order. , Philips admitted that all of the claims of the patents in suit are valid, and was granted a license. Cooper Bauck Corp. is the patent holder and licensing entity for the critically acclaimed ac·claim v. ac·claimed, ac·claim·ing, ac·claims v.tr. 1. To praise enthusiastically and often publicly; applaud. See Synonyms at praise. 2. Transaural technology, having granted a license with rights to sublicense sub·li·cense n. A license giving rights of production or marketing of products or services to a person or company that is not the primary holder of such rights. tr.v. to Harman International Industries Harman International Industries is an international audio equipment company. Brands
Numerous sublicenses under the name VMAx(TM) have been sold by Harman to leading software, computer, and semiconductor manufacturers including Microsoft, Compaq, and Hewlett Packard. Products are currently available which employ the technology. Cooper Bauck Corp. develops and licenses Transaural technology. A sister corporation, Cooper Bauck Transaural Inc., is involved with further advancing the technology, including the production of music CDs which are recorded using Transaural techniques. Such CDs do not require special equipment for playback in order for the listener to enjoy the full two speaker surround effect. Transaural(TM) and Cooper Bauck(TM) are trademarks of Cooper Bauck Corporation. VMAx(TM) is a trademark of Harman International Industries Inc. |
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