The noise settles over Bose's noise-canceling headphones

In what appears to have been an amicable agreement for most involved, Bose Corp. announced today that its legal battle over QuietComfort noise-canceling headphone patents has officially come to an end.

Last year, sound technologies maker Bose filed notice with the US International Trade Commission (PDF available here) that Phitek, GN Netcom (later Jabra), Audio-Technica, Creative Labs, Logitech, and Panasonic were infringing upon Bose's patents for noise-canceling headphones.

In the suit, Bose alleged that the companies had infringed upon three of its patents; one for the construction of "headphone comfort," one for the noise reduction diaphragm, and one for the in-headphone noise reducing unit.

Bose originally sought a permanent injunction against the companies' products, and an ITC investigation followed. While some of the companies settled with Bose, the list of defendants was whittled down to just one: Phitek Systems, a small New Zealand company responsible for making 40mm neodymium noise-canceling headphones.

Phitek conceded that it had sold infringing products for importation into the US. A settlement "without any admission of infringement or liability," according to Phitek, was ultimately agreed upon. Bose today said that a part of the settlement included Phitek agreeing to make changes to the design of its headphones to stay clear of Bose patents, but other terms of the settlement are confidential.