Behringer’s father or mother firm, Empower Tribe, is suing Boss – and its father or mother firm Roland – alleging its use of polyphonic tuning know-how in a number of of its merchandise infringes upon the patent of the TC Digital PolyTune.

Polyphonic tuning – a technique by which a guitarist can play and tune a number of strings on the identical time, versus monophonic tuning – is used within the PolyTune by TC Digital, one other model below the Empower Tribe umbrella.

The know-how additionally options in a lot of Boss merchandise, together with GT‑1000, GT‑1000CORE, GX‑100, and GX‑10 multi-effects pedals. Empower says this breaches its patent for the PolyTune.

Boss filed a movement to dismiss the declare on 9 October, 2025, arguing that Empower’s unique patent is invalid for a lot of causes. Firstly, Boss claims the know-how merely collects and shows information, which means it was by no means patentable because it’s an “summary concept” slightly than a concrete technological answer.

In Boss’ movement, whereas the character and proper to acquire patents for brand new applied sciences is acknowledged, it factors to an exception “long-held” by the US Supreme Court docket: “Legal guidelines of nature, pure phenomena and summary concepts aren’t patentable”. Below this provision, Boss says Empower’s polyphonic tuning patent is just not legitimate.

“Tuning is the quintessential definition of an summary idea as a result of musicians have been tuning stringed devices by ear for so long as there have been stringed devices,” Boss says. “A musician would play a word, evaluate it of their thoughts to what the word ought to sound like, after which modify their instrument, repeating the method till the notes matched…

“Likewise, a musician has been tuning by ear a number of strings performed on the identical time permitting an individual to distinguish ‘two pitch frequencies concurrently’… Plaintiff’s opposition [Behringer/Empower] would have the Court docket imagine that the ‘683 Patent [the PolyTune patent] invented polyphonic tuning.” Boss additionally says the PolyTune’s polyphonic tuning know-how is achievable utilizing generic {hardware}, and subsequently not patentable for a similar causes that the majority guitar pedals aren’t patentable.

Empower has responded to this movement to dismiss with its personal opposing movement, stating that Boss is “vastly oversimplifying” the know-how described within the PolyTune patent with a purpose to make its level, and general strongly rebukes primarily all components of Boss’ movement. By way of the dearth of an “ingenious” side to the unique patent, Empower argues that the court docket ought to on the very least endure an “intensely factual inquiry” to find out if that is the slightly than simply “take [the] Defendant’s phrase for it”, and settle for the movement to dismiss.

However why are we solely listening to about this dispute now? Nicely, pending additional ruling from the court docket, Boss has opted, as of March 2026, to take away the polyphonic tuner perform from its GT‑1000, GT‑1000CORE, GX‑100, and GX‑10 multi-effects pedals.

This was found by YouTuber John Nathan Cordy, who posted a video earlier this week detailing the firmware replace which eliminated polyphonic tuning from the above Boss pedals.

“Though [Boss parent company] Roland has developed many patented merchandise by itself, it determined that as a substitute of making a polyphonic tuner itself, it could merely knock off Empower’s patented system as a substitute,” Behringer’s preliminary lawsuit learn [via Guitar World].

“[The] defendants have by no means sought or obtained a licence of the patent, and aren’t licensed to observe any declare of that patent,” Behringer says, including that it contacted Roland to “attain an amicable answer”, however Roland “denied infringement” and “refused to barter a possible settlement”.

Many within the guitar and wider music gear neighborhood have been fast to level out that Behringer recurrently produces merchandise closely impressed by traditional items of substances.

This isn’t the primary time Boss and Behringer have been at odds, both, after Boss sued Behringer in 2005/2006 over the commerce costume (look) of lots of its results pedals. The go well with was finally settled below confidential phrases.

Simply final yr, Invoice Finnegan, creator of the long-lasting Klon Centaur overdrive pedal, sued Behringer over its Klon copy. Behringer subsequently modified the identify of its pedal from “Centaur” to “Zentara”, together with a lot of visible design components. The lawsuit was finally dismissed.

Guitar.com has reached out to each Boss and Behringer for remark.