ClearOne is seeking a court order stating Shure has been “manufacturing, marketing and selling” the MXA910W-A “in violation of a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Edmond E. Chang of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Illinois.”
That court-ordered injunction from August 2019 prohibits Shure from “manufacturing, marketing, and selling” the 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.”
By law, the injunction applies to the MXA910 and “colorable imitations” thereof.
ClearOne’s filing asserts that “Shure has been willfully manufacturing, marketing and selling its MXA910W-A in a way that ‘encourages or allows integrators to install it in a drop-ceiling mounting configuration,’” according to the ClearOne announcement of its Feb. 21 request.
In an email sent to Commercial Integrator this morning, Shure officials dismissed ClearOne’s claims.
“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,” the Shure statement says.
“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,” according to the statement.
Shure’s statement says its “top priority remains providing an uninterrupted supply of innovative products to our customers.”
More About the Shure MXA910W-A
ClearOne officials believe Shure is violating a court order.
“The measurements of the MXA910W-A allow it to be installed securely in the prohibited configuration in the majority of U.S. drop-ceiling grids and Shure’s marketing materials encourage such installation,” the ClearOne announcement about the Feb. 21 request says. [related]
“In addition, ClearOne has found evidence that third parties are in fact installing the MXA910W-A in the prohibited configuration,” the announcement says.
ClearOne has asked the Court to order Shure “to cease marketing and selling the MXA910W-A in the United States, notify all customers that the MXA910W-A violates the preliminary injunction and is thus subject to recall, award ClearOne its attorneys’ fees associated with the contempt motion and for additional discovery relating to how Shure’s customers are installing the MXA910W-A.”
“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 ClearOne chairwoman and CEO Zee Hakimoglu in the company announcement.
“Shure appears to have fully appreciated the risks they were taking, yet they willingly crossed the line, making things more difficult for all involved,” she said.
“ClearOne remains committed to protecting its intellectual property rights while playing by the rules, and won’t be intimidated by Shure into foregoing ClearOne’s right to fair competition on a level playing field,” said Hakimoglu in the ClearOne announcement.
