Dive Brief:
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Audio tech company Monster, which partnered with Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine to develop the now-famous Beats by Dre headphones, has filed a suit against Beats Electronics and Apple Inc. in San Mateo, CA County Superior Court asking for punitive damages.
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Monster CEO Noel Lee says that he and his company invented the technology and that Iovine and Andre Young, known as Dr. Dre, pirated the technology by severing ties with Monster just ahead of selling itself in May to Apple for $3 billion.
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Lee, who has a keen interest and expertise in maximizing sound quality in audio products, founded Monster, which is most famous for its high-end audio cables, in 1979.
Dive Insight:
Monster spent millions on the development of the headphones and was generally responsible for much of the most expensive aspects of the Beats by Dre business, due in part to decisions and agreements made by Lee’s son Kevin Lee that, as documented by Gizmodo last year, may have been unwise.
No doubt it’s maddening for the Lees to witness the lucrative partnership Beats forged with Apple. This case, though, will hinge on whether those arrangements between Monster and Beats are deemed unwise judgment on Monster’s part or unfair tactics on Beats’ part.
