Court dismisses Beats false advertising lawsuit against Steven Lamar

Almost exactly one year after Apple's Beats Electronics sued entrepreneur Steven Lamar for misrepresenting himself as a Beats cofounder, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has dismissed the suit.

District Judge Fernando M. Olguin signed the dismissal order on August 31, putting an end to one chapter of the long-running and slightly bizarre legal drama surrounding the origin of Beats. The Apple subsidiary first sued Lamar over what they characterized as "misleading" statements about his early involvement with Beats last September, after Lamar launched a competing line of headphones — called ROAM — and styled himself as a "co-founder of Beats by Dr. Dre."

"[Lamar] does not have — nor has he ever had — any ownership interest in the company," attorneys for Beats wrote at the time. "Moreover, Jibe Audio was not responsible for the 'concept, design, manufacturing and distribution' of Beats' headphones."

While the full story may never be known, Lamar was involved in some capacity during the founding of Beats and he was eventually given royalties on a portion of Beats products sold in the company's early days. The court preliminarily dismissed the case in January of this year, though it was continued after Beats amended its complaint, adding Dr. Dre as a party.

The subsequent amendments did not meet the requirements for continuation, however.

"Having liberally construed and assumed the truth of the allegations in the FAC, the court is persuaded that plaintiffs claims cannot be saved through amendment," Judge Olguin wrote in the Order on Motion to Dismiss.

The case was dismissed without prejudice, meaning that Beats could bring the suit again.