One-E-Way’s Headphone Patent Claims Against Sony Revived

One-E-Way Inc. triumphed over Japan’s Sony Corp. and others after a federal appeals court June 12 reversed an International Trade Commission ruling that the wireless headphone maker’s patent was invalid (One-E-Way, Inc. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, 2017 BL 197898, Fed. Cir., 2016-2105, 6/12/17).

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected a May 2016 ITC ruling that the language, “virtually free from interference,” in Pasadena, Calif.-based One-E-Way’s patent was indefinite. The patent covers technology that relays wireless audio data to a user’s headphones for private listening.

“The term ‘virtually’ does not expand ‘free from interference’ without ...