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Roam responds to Beats lawsuit against its founder
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 2 October 2014
Following on from the news that Apple and Beats were suing a self-proclaimed co-founder of the over-priced headphone brand, that man, Steve Lamar, has hit back at the litigation.
As previously reported, Lamar did have an alliance with Beats founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre when they were first dabbling in the tech space, and their one-time business partner claims the idea of putting Dre’s name to headphones was his idea. The partnership fell apart though, with Lamar eventually securing a royalty on some Beats products, though that deal is now the subject of new legal action.
Meanwhile Lamar has a new headphones venture called Roam, and has been annoying the management at Beats, and its new owner Apple, by playing on his involvement in the evolution of the Beats headphones business. So much so they are now suing him for allegedly making “false and misleading” statements in promoting his new company.
But a spokesman for Roam has hit out at the lawsuit, insisting that Lamar has every right to big up his involvement in the creation of the original Beats By Dr Dre concept. And while Apple/Beats are right to say Lamar was not an employee of or shareholder in the actual Beats Electronics, LLC company, Roam says their founder has never claimed to be either of these things.
A Roam spokesperson told CMU: “This lawsuit is filled with erroneous and unsubstantiated claims. Steven Lamar’s role and significant contribution as a creator of the Beats By Dr Dre brand and its headphone product line have been acknowledged for nearly a decade. This is the reason for his agreement to receive royalty payments from Beats”.
They go on: “Mr Lamar does not claim to be a shareholder or employee in any ‘Beats’ related businesses established after he, Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young settled their dispute in 2007. We look forward to an immediate and positive resolution to this matter”.
