After a three-day jury trial, ClearOne obtained a complete victory against claims asserted by Shure Incorporated, when the jury returned a verdict of no infringement and invalidated the asserted patent.
“The jury deliberated for less than two hours before returning a verdict in our favor,” said Doug Dixon. “We feel privileged to have defended ClearOne in this very significant matter. ClearOne knew it was right, stood up for itself, and was vindicated.”
The litigation between ClearOne and Shure began in 2017 in federal court in Illinois, where ClearOne accuses Shure of infringing several patents. After a string of losses in Illinois, Shure expanded the parties’ litigation in 2019 to the District of Delaware, where it filed claims for patent infringement, including of a design patent, and trade libel against ClearOne. In May 2020 and January 2021, we secured an important pair of wins for ClearOne, defeating Shure’s requests first for a temporary restraining order and then a preliminary injunction, allowing ClearOne to continue selling its ground-breaking audio-conferencing products. In addition to defeating Shure’s requests for preliminary injunctive relief, we also obtained a stay of the proceedings with respect to the only other asserted patent. Then, on the eve of trial, Shure dropped its trade libel claims. This trial verdict disposed of Shure’s claims, other than a stayed patent claim, while ClearOne maintains false advertising claims in Delaware, to be tried at a later date, along with its original claims in Illinois.
ClearOne is a global company that designs and develops conferencing, collaboration, and networked streaming devices. Its customers have included Boeing, Toyota, Netflix, Exxon, and Kaiser Permanente.
The Hueston Hennigan team includes Doug Dixon, Christy Rayburn, Christine Woodin, Sourabh Mishra, Michael Acquah, Neil Anderson, Dan Sheehan, and Joseph Aronsohn.
Media Coverage
“Jury Says Microphone Co. Shure’s Patent Invalid After Trial,” Law360, November 5, 2021.
“ClearOne Beats Rival Microphone Maker’s Design Patent Claims,” Bloomberg Law, November 4, 2021.