Shure has filed a lawsuit against ClearOne (NASDAQ: CLRO) in the U.S. Court for the District of Delaware. The lawsuit alleges ClearOne’s BMA CT product, launched in Feb. 2019, infringes Shure’s U.S. Patent No. 9,565,493 (“‘493 Patent”). The ‘493 patent, which protects the architecture of Shure’s ceiling array microphone.
Furthermore, Shure alleges that ClearOne engaged in unfair competition, tortious interference, deceptive trade practices, and false advertising by intentionally making false, deceptive, and/or misleading remarks in the marketplace about the status and availability of Shure’s MXA910 in order to deter customers from purchasing these products.
Specifically, Shure alleges that ClearOne is leveraging ongoing litigation between the two companies to intentionally and falsely claim that Shure’s MXA910 products are unavailable to customers, that Shure is unable to sell these products, that integrators, installers, and/or end users will need to tear or rip out existing installations of the MXA910, and other similar false representations.
“Rather than innovating or competing fairly, ClearOne responded to Shure’s successful launch of its MXA product line by releasing its own product mimicking the MXA910,” said Paul Applebaum, executive vice president and general counsel, Shure. “To make matters worse, in an effort to promote its infringing product, ClearOne has decided to mislead the marketplace—which includes customers of both companies—by engaging in a smear campaign of false and misleading statements about Shure’s products. These deceptive practices not only harm Shure, but are intended to scare and confuse consumers.”
In a statement, ClearOne said, "ClearOne denies Shure’s allegations of patent infringement and false advertising. Shure’s claims are frivolous and appear to be manufactured to retaliate against ClearOne’s meritorious patent infringement and trade secret claims against Shure, currently pending in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois. Shure’s claim that ClearOne’s BMA-CT product infringes its ‘493 patent is without merit. The asserted claims of Shure’s ‘493 patent are invalid in light of ClearOne’s own earlier Patent No. 9,813,806. Indeed, even before Shure filed its desperate lawsuit, ClearOne had challenged the validity of Shure’s ‘493 patent in the U.S. PTO, and asserted claims against Shure for infringement of ClearOne’s ‘806 patent. ClearOne is confident that it will prevail and that Shure’s desperate ploy to manufacture frivolous claims will be rejected."
Shure is seeking monetary damages and injunctive relief to prevent the continuing infringement of Shure’s intellectual property and to stop ClearOne’s alleged unlawful violations of the Delaware Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the Lanham Act, and its Tortious Interference with Business Relations.
