Judge Dismisses Monster Lawsuit Alleging Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine Committed Fraud

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has dismissed Monster’s allegations that Beats co-founders Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine pirated the headphones away from Monster and its founder, Noel Lee, reports the Associated Press.

The summary judgement, issued late Monday, closes the main chapter of the year-long case. The case was scheduled to go to trial next week, but thanks to the judgement it will be limited to Beats’ effort to squeeze attorney fees and other costs from Monster.

Noel Lee once held a 5% stake in Beats and claimed in the filing that Monster was instrumental in creating the Beats By Dr. Dre headphones, as Lee had designed and engineered them, and educated Dre and Iovine about the engineering, manufacture, distribution and selling of the product he invented.

After analysing the matter, Judge William Fahey concluded that Noel’s accusation that Dr. Dre and Iovine orchestrated a “sham” deal with smartphone maker HTC in 2011 that led to the termination of the Monster alliance, lacked evidence. Fahey ruled that Beats’ actions were allowed under the contracts Lee and Monster had entered into as sophisticated investors, AP reports.