Niles, SpeakerCraft Ink Agreement

MIAMI— Niles and SpeakerCraft of Riverside, Calif., signed a cross-licensing agreement that lets both sell their separate lines of pivoting in-ceiling speakers without the threat of a lawsuit. Both companies received patents for their designs.

Niles said the agreement will help both companies design future products without worrying about potential infringement. It will also give both companies stronger legal standing to protect their patents from infringement by other companies, a spokesman said.

Niles said the Directed Soundfield speakers, shown last September at the CEDIA Expo, are due around the end of May but weren't held up for the agreement. "They were held for unrelated product issues," the spokesman said.

Like those speakers, SpeakerCraft's AIM series featured a woofer/tweeter combination that pivoted to direct sound to a room's listening position.