For more information, contact Norm Schneider, President, Smart Devices, at 800 45-Smart.
The Politics Of The Smart Devices, Panastereo, Inc, And SRS Labs, Inc Lawsuit Settlement With Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
Previously on Wednesday and Thursday, December 1 and 2, we published two stories on the Smart Devices, Panastereo, Inc., and SRS Labs, Inc. lawsuit settlement with Dolby Laboratories. Each story had a different take on the matter. According to Smart Devices, Dolby, in its press release, misstates and mischaracterizes the facts to their advantage. In a document from Smartís attorney to Dolbyís attorney, Smart said, ""It is surprising and unfortunate to find a company of Dolbyís stature parading the fine details of a settlement agreement publicly on their Web site. The public really only need know that Smart agreed to change from ""EX"" in return for Dolby dropping their patent claims."" Thus, the document states, ""Smart Devices and Panastereo consider the press release false and misleading"" for the following reasons. Smart states that the press release ""fails to state anything about the partiesí agreement that the infringement was ëinadvertent, í"" and ""misleadingly characterizes one dollar as ëminimal damages.í"" Smart further states that the press release ""mentions nothing about Dolbyís release of liability regarding the CM333 cards and Dolbyís review of Panastereoís new CM353 noise reduction card and express agreement that this card does not infringe Dolbyís patents."" This is an important issue for Smart and Panastereo because their customers ""are left with the incorrect impression that their cinema processors with CM333 cards and CM353 cards installed therein may subject them to patent infringement claims by Dolby."" Further, the Dolby press announcement states that Smart has agreed to adhere to ""strict guidelines for comparative advertising mentioning Dolby."" According to the Smart referenced document, this is not what the parties agreed to in the settlement. ""Smart Devices agreed not to mention Dolby only in connection with Surround EX related products."" For all other products, ""Smart agreed that their advertising would be true and accurate or be a fair comment, guidelines no stricter than Dolby is required to follow in their advertising."" Truthful marketing is the issue here. Smart claims that truthful marketing is the least of Dolbyís concerns. As a result Smart Devices issued the announcement that we published in yesterdayís Webzine news, which the company says ""corrects Dolbyís irresponsible recollection of the facts."" As a corrective measure, Smart Devices, Panavision, Inc, and SRS Labs are demanding that Dolby issue a corrective press release immediately. Note: While Smart Devices had entered an application for trademark registration for the term ""Surround EX"" prior to Dolby Laboratoriesí or Lucasfilm THX Divisionís application, and had introduced the first ""Surround EX"" hardware product, Smart Devices under the terms of the settlement has agreed to change from ""EX"" to ""3X"" in return for Dolby dropping their patent claims related to noise reduction on an entirely different cinema product. Thus, the new Smart nomenclature for their ""Surround EX"" adapters, both cinema pro and home theatre versions, is now ""Circle Surround 3X,"" descriptive of ""three"" surround channels. The CS-3X Circle Surround adapter has a suggested theatre net price of $895. The home theatre version, the CS-3X, Jr. Circle Surround adapter is available at $299 (see Webzine news December 2 ""SMART Devicesí New Circle Surround 3X ""Surround EX"" Adapter.""