Apple Is Suing A Man Who Claims To Be A Beats Cofounder

Apple subsidiary Beats Electronics is suing Steven Lamar, who claims to be a Beats cofounder alongside Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The suit alleges that Lamar's current claims to be a Beats cofounder is advertising.

Lamar claims he conferred with Iovine about a premium headphone company before they parted ways. That legal dispute was settled with a 4% royalty on certain headphones for Lamar.

Since allegedly coming up with the idea for Beats, Lamar has founded his own headphones company, Roam.

The Reporter says Lamar claims to be a Beats cofounder in Roam's promo materials.

He's been talking to press recently for the launch of his new "Ropes" headphones, and Apple says that news sites are falsely naming him as a Beats cofounder as a result.

Apple, which is fiercely protective of its intellectual property, claims that Lamar is using the connection to Beats to sell his new product.

This isn't the first time Beats has needed an attorney. David Hyman, who founded a company later acquired by Beats, is also suing the company for allegedly terminating him to avoid an equity payout.

Beats is seeking profits and damages from Lamar. They're also looking for him to remove any claims of cofounding Beats from social media.

We've reached out to Lamar for comment and will update this post when we hear back.

Here's Beats' suit: