Patents in suit

US 10,313,820 Sub-band spatial audio enhancement

4 defendants · 6 suits · updated October 6, 2026

Also cited as U.S. Patent No. 10,313,820 · US10313820B2 · US 10,313,820 B2 · 10313820 · the '820 patent

BOOMCLOUD 360, INC. has filed 6 patent-infringement suits on US 10,313,820, "Sub-band spatial audio enhancement" since June 17, 2026, 3 of them in the E.D. Tex., against 4 distinct defendants including BEST BUY CO., INC., TARGET CORPORATION, INC and Walmart Inc. The patent was granted June 4, 2019 on a priority date of July 11, 2017. Its abstract opens: "An audio system provides for spatial enhancement of an audio signal including a left input channel and a right input channel." The examiner cited 5 references during prosecution.

Assignee
Boomcloud 360 Inc
Priority date
July 11, 2017
Granted
June 4, 2019
Expires
July 11, 2037
Status
Active
Claims
27 (3 independent)
Inventors
Zachary Seldess
Full text
Google Patents

The suits

6 cases · E.D. Tex. (3) · N.D. Cal. (2) · S.D. Cal. (1)

Filed Defendant Plaintiff Court Docket
2026-06-17 BEST BUY CO., INC. BOOMCLOUD 360, INC. E.D. Tex. 2:26-cv-00488
2026-06-17 TARGET CORPORATION, INC BOOMCLOUD 360, INC. E.D. Tex. 2:26-cv-00489
2026-06-17 Walmart Inc Boomcloud 360 Inc E.D. Tex. 1:26-cv-00245
2026-08-05 Boomcloud 360, Inc. Apple Inc. S.D. Cal. 3:26-cv-04492
2026-08-18 Boomcloud 360, Inc.DJ Google LLC N.D. Cal. 3:26-cv-08573
2026-09-15 Boomcloud 360, Inc.DJ Motorola Mobility LLC N.D. Cal. 3:26-cv-10497

Docket links open the public record on CourtListener. Filing dates are the complaint's.

Independent claims

What is actually asserted, verbatim.

Claim 1

1. A method for enhancing an audio signal having a left input channel and a right input channel, comprising: processing the left input channel and the right input channel into a spatial component and a nonspatial component, the spatial component including a difference between the left input channel and the right input channel and the nonspatial component including a sum of the left input channel and the right input channel; applying first subband gains to subbands of the spatial component to generate an enhanced spatial component, wherein applying the first subband gains to the subbands of the spatial component includes applying a first set of subband filters to the spatial component; applying second subband gains to subbands of the nonspatial component to generate an enhanced nonspatial component, wherein applying the second subband gains to the subbands of the nonspatial component includes applying a second set of subband filters to the nonspatial component; and combining the enhanced spatial component and the enhanced nonspatial component into a left output channel and a right output channel.

Claim 14

14. A system for enhancing an audio signal having a left input channel and a right input channel, comprising: a spatial frequency band divider configured to process the left input channel and the right input channel into a spatial component and a nonspatial component, the spatial component including a difference between the left input channel and the right input channel and the nonspatial component including a sum of the left input channel and the right input channel; a spatial frequency band processor including: a first set of subband filters configured to apply first subband gains to subbands of the spatial component to generate an enhanced spatial component; and a second set of subband filters configured to apply second subband gains to subbands of the nonspatial component to generate an enhanced nonspatial component; and a spatial frequency band combiner configured to combine the enhanced spatial component and the enhanced nonspatial component into a left output channel and a right output channel.

Claim 27

27. A non-transitory computer readable medium configured to store program code, the program code comprising instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to: process a left input channel and a right input channel of an audio signal into a spatial component and a nonspatial component, the spatial component including a difference between the left input channel and the right input channel and the nonspatial component including a sum of the left input channel and the right input channel; apply first subband gains to subbands of the spatial component to generate an enhanced spatial component, wherein applying the first subband gains to the subbands of the spatial component includes applying a first set of subband filters to the spatial component; apply second subband gains to subbands of the nonspatial component to generate an enhanced nonspatial component, wherein applying the second subband gains to the subbands of the nonspatial component includes applying a second set of subband filters to the nonspatial component; and combine the enhanced spatial component and the enhanced nonspatial component into a left output channel and a right output channel.

Art before the examiner

23 references of record, 5 cited by the examiner.

Everything listed here was before the Office and is what a challenge must go beyond. Art the examiner never saw is where an invalidity search starts.

Examiner-cited

  • US4910778A — Signal enhancement processor for stereo system (Barton Geoffrey J)
  • US20080249769A1 — Method and Apparatus for Determining Audio Spatial Quality (Baumgarte Frank M)
  • US20080273721A1 — Method for spatially processing multichannel signals, processing module, and virtual surround-sound systems (Creative Technology Ltd)
  • US20090304189A1 — Rendering Center Channel Audio (Dolby Laboratorie Licensing Corporation)
  • US20110188660A1 — Method for enlarging a location with optimal three dimensional audio perception (Creative Technology Ltd)
Applicant-cited and other (18)
  • US3920904A — Method and apparatus for imparting to headphones the sound-reproducing characteristics of loudspeakers
  • KR100671360B1 — Audio correction system and audio sound reinforcement method
  • US20080031462A1 — Spatial audio enhancement processing method and apparatus
  • US20080165975A1 — Dialogue Enhancements Techniques
  • CN100481722C — System and method for enhancing delivered sound in acoustical virtual reality
  • US20090262947A1 — Apparatus and Method for Producing 3D Audio in Systems with Closely Spaced Speakers
  • US20110152601A1 — Optically Coupled Bone Conduction Systems and Methods
  • US20110268281A1 — Audio spatialization using reflective room model
  • JP2012060599A — Acoustic processing apparatus
  • US20120099733A1 — Audio adjustment system
  • KR20120077763A — Method and apparatus for controlling distribution of spatial sound energy
  • US20120328109A1 — Spatial sound reproduction
  • JP2013013042A — Three-dimensional sound apparatus
  • CN101884065B — Spatial audio analysis and synthesis for binaural reproduction and format conversion
  • TWI484484B — Signal processing apparatus and method, coding apparatus and method, decoding apparatus and method, and signal processing program
  • TWI489447B — Apparatus and method for generating an audio output signal, and related computer program
  • TW201532035A — Prediction-based FM stereo radio noise reduction
  • CN102893331B — For using head microphone to the method and apparatus carrying out processes voice signals

Classification

  • H04S7/30primary — Control circuits for electronic adaptation of the sound field
  • H04S7/303primary — Tracking of listener position or orientation
  • H04R2499/11 — Transducers incorporated or for use in hand-held devices, e.g. mobile phones, PDA's, camera's
  • H04R3/12 — Circuits for transducers for distributing signals to two or more loudspeakers
  • H04R3/14 — Cross-over networks
  • H04R5/04 — Circuit arrangements, e.g. for selective connection of amplifier inputs/outputs to loudspeakers, for loudspeaker detection, or for adaptation of settings to personal preferences or hearing impairments
  • H04S1/002 — Non-adaptive circuits, e.g. manually adjustable or static, for enhancing the sound image or the spatial distribution
  • H04S2400/01 — Multi-channel, i.e. more than two input channels, sound reproduction with two speakers wherein the multi-channel information is substantially preserved
  • H04S2400/13 — Aspects of volume control, not necessarily automatic, in stereophonic sound systems
  • H04S2420/01 — Enhancing the perception of the sound image or of the spatial distribution using head related transfer functions [HRTF's] or equivalents thereof, e.g. interaural time difference [ITD] or interaural level difference [ILD]
  • H04S2420/07 — Synergistic effects of band splitting and sub-band processing
  • H04S2420/11 — Application of ambisonics in stereophonic audio systems
  • H04S3/002 — Non-adaptive circuits, e.g. manually adjustable or static, for enhancing the sound image or the spatial distribution
  • H04S3/008 — Systems employing more than two channels, e.g. quadraphonic in which the audio signals are in digital form, i.e. employing more than two discrete digital channels

Family

  • US10313820B2 — B2 (2019)
  • US20190020966A1 — A1 (2019)
  • 19 foreign family members: AU2018299871A1, BR112020000655A2, WO2019014069A1, AU2018299871C1, EP3652966A1, CA3064459A1, BR112020000655B1, TWI692256B, CN110915241B, EP3652966A4, NZ760169A, TW201909656A, CN110915241A, JP2020526980A, KR20200018717A, CA3064459C, KR102163512B1, AU2018299871B2, JP6865885B2

Abstract

An audio system provides for spatial enhancement of an audio signal including a left input channel and a right input channel. The system may include a spatial frequency band divider, a spatial frequency band processor, and a spatial frequency band combiner. The spatial frequency band divider processes the left input channel and the right input channel into a spatial component and a nonspatial component. The spatial frequency band processor applies subband gains to subbands of the spatial component to generate an enhanced spatial component, and applies subband gains to subbands of the nonspatial component to generate an enhanced nonspatial component. The spatial frequency band combiner combines the enhanced spatial component and the enhanced nonspatial component into a left output channel and a right output channel. In some embodiments, the spatial component and nonspatial component are separated into spatial subband components and nonspatial subband components for the processing.

Also asserted by BOOMCLOUD 360, INC.

  • US 10,721,564 — Subband spatial and crosstalk cancellation for audio reporoduction (4 defendants)
  • US 10,757,527 — Crosstalk cancellation b-chain (4 defendants)
  • US 10,524,078 — Crosstalk cancellation b-chain (3 defendants)
  • US 11,051,121 — Spectral defect compensation for crosstalk processing of spatial audio signals (3 defendants)
  • US 11,533,560 — Dynamic rendering device metadata-informed audio enhancement system (3 defendants)

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This page is assembled from public records — federal court dockets and the patent's own file — and is updated as the case list changes. It states what the record shows and is not an opinion on the validity or infringement of any claim. Patent data via Google Patents; docket data via CourtListener.