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| Apple and Google sued over Jawbone patents |
It appears that a company called Jawbone Innovations LLC recently acquired most of Jawbone's original intellectual property and filed a lawsuit against Apple and Google this week in federal court in Waco, Texas.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple and Google infringed on eight outdated Jobon patents focused on sound-isolating algorithms originally developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Jawbone, the bankrupt mobile device company, went bankrupt in 2017. However, its patents still exist, and Jawbone Innovations LLC uses them to sue tech giants for noise-canceling technology in headphones, smartphones, and phones.
Jawbone is a leader in wearable technology. But the market lost to Fitbit.
Before the battle between the two companies ended in 2017, Jawbone was badly damaged by a legal battle between the two companies.
Jawbone eventually liquidated its assets, buying Google Fitbit for $2.1 billion this year.
The lawsuit against Apple lists all the infringing versions and models of the iPhone, iPad, AirPods Pro and HomePod products.
While the lawsuit against Google is extensive, it does mention all versions and models of Google smartphones. Including Android devices such as tablets, laptops, headphones and smart home devices.
Both lawsuits aim to constrain these companies to prevent them from selling the alleged purported products and charging commissions for future use of those patents.
As Bloomberg pointed out, it is not clear who or what is behind these lawsuits. However, this is not the first time that Jawbone Innovations LLC has made such a statement. The same company sued Samsung in June over similar violations.
In the lawsuit, the company alleged that Samsung infringed on two Jawbone patents relating to microphone noise cancellation.
The lawsuit focuses on two patents granted to Jobon in 2011 and 2012. It claims that a large number of Samsung products infringe both of those patents.
Jawbone Ghost returns to Sue Apple and Google
Before Lyft and Uber were sued, directors of Jawbone Innovations LLC in York-Eggleston appeared to be running other LLCs that maintained IBM's old patents.
It makes sense to file such a lawsuit in Waco, Texas, because it is the most popular area for patent judges and jurors in the country.
A Google spokesperson said: We reject these allegations and actively defend ourselves.