On February 21, ClearOne asked for a court order to hold Shure in contempt for manufacturing, marketing, and selling its redesigned MXA910—the MXA910W-A, released in December 2019—in violation of a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Edmond E. Chang of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois.
[ClearOne Asserts Shure’s Redesigned MXA910 Infringes on its Beamforming Patent]
That court-ordered injunction prohibits Shure from “manufacturing, marketing, and selling” the original MXA910 for use “in its drop-ceiling mounting configuration, including marketing and selling the MXA910 in a way that encourages or allows integrators to install it in a drop-ceiling mounting configuration.”
ClearOne contends that the redesigned MXA910W-A doesn't depart enough from the original design, which it has been prohibited from selling. Representatives from Shure disagree.
“The court made clear in its decision issued in November that the ‘806 patent preliminary injunction does not address the MXA910W-A, which remains available for sale and was specifically designed to meet the court’s requirements," Shure said in a statement.
“Shure believes that ClearOne’s latest legal antics are simply another attempt to disrupt the market with smoke and mirrors and an improper interpretation of its IP rights. We look forward to presenting our case before a jury later this year and putting this matter to rest soon. As always, our top priority remains providing an uninterrupted supply of innovative products to our customers.”
“Shure chose to play fast and loose with the Court’s preliminary injunction order, rushing to market with a design that, we believe, still infringes ClearOne’s patent,” said Zee Hakimoglu, ClearOne chair and CEO. “Shure appears to have fully appreciated the risks they were taking, yet they willingly crossed the line, making things more difficult for all involved.”
