Google was recently fined $32.5 million, for infringing on patents held by Sonos, the smart speaker manufacturer. According to Engadget, on Monday (May 29, 2023), a Federal Judge in California imposed the fine after determining that Google had violated Sonos' patents relating to synchronized audio playback across multiple speakers. This feature is a core element of Sonos' technology that has been developed over the years.
US District Judge William Alsup ruled that the early versions of products such as Chromecast Audio and Google Home infringed on Sonos' patents. The question remained whether the newer and modified products also infringed on the patents. The judge sided with Sonos but decided that the second patent, related to device control via smartphones or other devices, was not violated.
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| Source: kliklegal.com |
Sonos failed to convincingly demonstrate that the Google Home application infringed on that patent. This follows the rejection of four other patent infringement claims originally filed by Sonos. "This is a narrow dispute over a few very specific features that are not commonly used. Out of the six patents initially claimed by Sonos, only one was found to be infringed, and the rest were rejected as invalid or not infringed," stated Google in response to Engadget. "We always develop technology independently and compete based on our own ideas. We are considering our next steps," they continued.
Sonos also issued a statement expressing gratitude for the judge's time and dedication in upholding the validity of Sonos' patents and recognizing the value of their patents. "This decision reaffirms that Google is a serial infringer of our patent portfolio, as has been determined by the International Trade Commission regarding five other Sonos patents," stated Sonos.
Overall, they believe that Google has infringed on over 200 Sonos patents. The damages awarded by the judge, based on a significant part of Sonos' portfolio, are considered an acknowledgment of their intellectual property rights. "Our goal remains for Google to pay fair royalties to us for the Sonos inventions they have copied," they added.
This decision appears to be a victory for Sonos, as they originally filed a lawsuit against Google in January 2020. Specifically, Sonos claimed that Google acquired knowledge of the patents through previous collaboration between the two companies, when they worked together to enable integration between Sonos speakers and Google Play Music. Since then, Google counter-sued Sonos, alleging that Sonos itself had infringed on its own patents related to smart speakers. Like any good legal battle, Sonos then expanded its own lawsuit a few months later.
Recently, in 2022, Google sued Sonos, claiming that their new voice assistant infringed on seven patents related to Google Assistant.