Speaker manufacturer Ural won a lawsuit against the owner of JBL – Kommersant

The Russian manufacturer of speaker systems “Ural” won a lawsuit against the American audio equipment manufacturer Harman International Industries (a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, which produces JBL speakers). The court hearing took place in September, and the deadline for filing an appeal expired on November 30, he said RBC representative of Ural.

In September 2021, Harman International Industries filed a lawsuit against Promostar LLC and AutoAudioTsentr LLC (distributor and manufacturer of Ural). The plaintiff claimed that Ural copied the design and patented solutions of its products and used “recognizable features” of JBL portable speakers. The company cited the results of a survey by the VTsIOM Foundation, according to which 86% of respondents considered the JBL and Ural audio systems to be similar in appearance. Harman International Industries demanded that Ural be prohibited from using industrial designs No. 98697 and No. 97967 (registered as “loudspeakers”), of which it is the copyright holder, in four Ural columns. The American company estimated losses from the sale of one wholesale batch of Ural speakers at no less than 500 thousand rubles. She also demanded 3 million rubles. compensation plus payments of about 500 thousand legal expenses.

Ural rejected the voiced claims. According to the company, patents owned by Harman International Industries are registered under the “loudspeaker” class, and Ural speakers are portable audio systems. The defendant insists that its products do not use all the “essential features” of the Harman International Industries patent. Ural also stated that 90% of portable speakers are cylindrical in shape, and if copying the appearance of a product or its parts is “due solely to functional use,” it cannot be unlawful. Ural also presented the results of a survey by the Federal Research Sociological Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This survey found that 91% of respondents could tell the difference between two brands of speakers, and 88% knew they were from different manufacturers.

The Moscow Arbitration Court in the first instance in March 2022 refused to satisfy the claims of Harman International Industries. The American company tried to challenge the decision in the appellate and cassation instances. In September last year, the intellectual property rights court returned the case for a new trial, but in September 2023, the arbitration court again sided with the defendant.

Laura Keffer