Harman Ordered to Pay Bose $5.7 Million

Northridge-based Harman International Industries Inc., maker of high-end stereo systems under such brand names as Infinity and JBL, said a judge ordered that it pay $5.7 million in damages to closely held rival Bose Corp. in a patent infringement lawsuit over speaker technology. A federal judge in Boston ruled last week that Harman’s JBL Inc. and Infinity Systems Corp. units infringed Bose’s patent covering plastic ports incorporated in some stereo speakers, Harman officials said in a release. Framingham, Mass.-based Bose filed suit in 1998. Harman will appeal the judge’s decision, but has agreed to redesign the Infinity and JBL speakers to avoid infringing Bose’s port design, officials said. “We expect our appeal to be successful,” Bernard Girod, Harman’s chief executive, said in the release. Computer makers and auto makers are some of Harman’s main customers, according to Hoover’s Company Profiles, with DaimlerChrysler’s order for car speakers making up about 23% of Harman’s annual sales. Harman’s shares fell $1.69 to close at $75.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.