Author: Martyn Williams

Headphone maker Bose has launched a patent-infringement lawsuit against rival Beats Electronics, which Apple recently agreed to acquire in a $3 billion dollar deal. In its complaint, Bose alleges that the “active noise cancellation” system in Beats Studio and Studio Wireless headphones infringes on five of its patents that relate to digital audio processing, compression and noise cancellation technology. They are U.S. patents 6,717,537; 8,073,150; 8,073,151; 8,054,992; and 8,345,888.

In addition to the suit, which was filed in Delaware, the company also lodged a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission asking the trade court to ban Beats from importing the headphones into the Unoted states. Companies are increasingly filing lawsuits with the ITC in addition to the domestic court system in the hopes an import injunction will provide extra leverage when it comes to negotiations over alleged infringement.

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Apple reported its quarterly numbers on Tuesday, a mixed bag that saw profits rise up but sales fall short of the mark. Here are five takeaways from the earnings call that followed.

Apple’s pouring more money into R&D

Apple has spent US$3.3 billion in the past nine months on research and development. That’s 3.1 percent of revenue, putting it on course to beat its R&D spending for the past several years. The last time spending reached that level was 2009, and it could still go higher yet. In the April-to-June quarter, R&D spending was 4.3 percent of revenue, a level not reached since before the iPhone launch. What’s driving the spending? Only Apple knows, but a good guess would be the iPhone, which will reportedly soon see a major overhaul, and Apple’s much-rumored wearable. It’s worth noting, however, that Apple’s R&D spending is lower as a percentage of revenue than many of Silicon Valley’s big enterprise tech firms.

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