Sonos Inc and Alphabet’s Google LLC will face off Monday in a federal lawsuit in San Francisco over allegations that Google copied Sonos’ patented smart speaker technology into wireless audio devices such as the Google Home and Chromecast Audio.
This lawsuit is part of a broader intellectual property dispute between former business partners, including other lawsuits in the United States, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Sonos sued Google for $90 million in damages to her in the San Francisco lawsuit, according to Google’s court filings. Sonos claims Google infringed on two of his patents related to multi-room wireless audio.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said the incident was related to “a very specific feature that is not commonly used” and that Sonos “misunderstood our partnership and technology.” rice field.
Sonos declined to comment on the controversy. The two companies had previously worked together to integrate Google’s streaming music service with Sonos products. Sonos first sued Google for patent infringement in Los Angeles and the United States. The 2020 International Trade Commission accused the tech giant of copying its technology while working together.
Sonos won a limited import ban on some of his Google devices from the ITC last year, which Google appealed. Google countered this with its own patent lawsuit in California and his ITC.
Alsup issued sharp words to both companies. Last month, he called their attack on each other’s expert testimony “a symbol of the worst patent litigation” and “spilled a lot of ink almost on purpose.”
In his 2020 ruling, he cited the “huge” resources already expended on the controversy.
“In the end, our party’s bill could have probably built dozens of schools, paid all the teachers, and provided hot lunches for the children.
