Sonos sues Google, alleging it stole its wireless speaker technology

mood · Jan 7, 2020

Sonos sues Google, alleging it stole its wireless speaker technology
January 7, 2020
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/07/sonos-sues-google-for-stealing-its-wireless-speaker-technology.html

Sonos sued Google Tuesday for patent infringement, saying Google used technology developed by Sonos that allows smart speakers to wirelessly play music in different rooms.

“Google is an important partner with whom we have collaborated successfully for years, including bringing the Google Assistant to the Sonos platform last year,” Sonos told CNBC. “However, Google has been blatantly and knowingly copying our patented technology in creating its audio products. [...]”
The lawsuit, which was filed Tuesday in Los Angeles, says Google gained knowledge of Sonos technology when the two companies worked together to bring Google’s streaming music service to Sonos speakers in 2013.

The lawsuit says that Google didn’t just copy Sonos tech but that it also “subsidized the prices of its patent infringing products.” Sonos speakers typically cost hundreds of dollars. Google’s more affordable smart speakers cost as little as $35.
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“Over the years, we have had numerous ongoing conversations with Sonos about both companies’ IP rights and we are disappointed that Sonos brought these lawsuits instead of continuing negotiations in good faith,” a Google spokesperson told CNBC in an emailed statement. “We dispute these claims and will defend them vigorously.”
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The New York Times: Sonos, Squeezed by the Tech Giants, Sues Google

mood · Jan 8, 2020

Amazon’s hardware boss responds to Sonos accusations of stolen technology
VP Dave Limp sticks to a friendly tone and says Sonos should focus on competing
January 8, 2020
https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/8/21056851/amazon-dave-limp-interview-sonos-google-response

Yesterday morning, The New York Times broke the news that Sonos is suing Google. Under the belief that Google stole its technology and has slowly been trying to “squeeze” Sonos’ business with its own lineup of less expensive smart speakers, the Times reported that Sonos CEO “couldn’t take it anymore” and made the call to square off against Google in court.

But Sonos made similar claims against Amazon in the same Times article — despite not including the company in the lawsuit. Litigating against two tech giants could stretch Sonos too thin, the company’s executives said, so they’re focused only on the battle with Google at the moment.
All of the same accusations were lobbed at Amazon, however.

The very public criticisms from Sonos have put Amazon in an awkward spot. For now, this is not the company’s fight. But Amazon will inevitably be next in line if Sonos finds success against Google, so it’s already defending itself against the idea that its Echo hardware infringes on Sonos’ intellectual property.
Last night at an Amazon media gathering, I spoke to Limp about this new crack in the company’s relationship with Sonos. [...]
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ronjor · Feb 6, 2020

Google faces yet another government investigation after Sonos complaint

Lauren Feiner@lauren_feiner Feb 6 2020
The U.S. International Trade Commission said it will investigate allegations that Google imported and sold patent-infringing goods after Sonos complained.
Sonos has filed suit against Google over alleged patent infringement and testified in front of the House Antitrust Subcommittee last month about Google’s competitive practices.
Google and its parent company Alphabet already face an antitrust probe opened by a large group of state attorneys general, and the Department of Justice and the House Antitrust Subcommittee are both looking at its competitive practices.
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mood · Jun 11, 2020

Google countersues Sonos for patent infringement
June 11, 2020
https://www.theverge.com/2020/6/11/21288161/google-countersues-sonos-patents-infringement

Google has countersued Sonos for patent infringement, following Sonos originally filing a patent lawsuit against Google in January. The lawsuit alleges that Sonos is infringing five Google patents covering mesh networking, echo cancellation, DRM, content notifications, and personalized search.

Google’s suit seems to serve a few purposes. One is obviously to countersue Sonos with its own patents. Another is for Google to show how it has been aggrieved after what it sees as helpful support for Sonos’ product development efforts.

“While Google rarely sues other companies for patent infringement, it must assert its intellectual property rights here,” the company says in its lawsuit.
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“We are disappointed that Sonos has made false claims about our work together and technology,” Jose Castaneda, a Google spokesperson, said in a statement to The Verge. “We are reluctantly defending ourselves by asserting our patent rights. While we look to resolve our dispute, we will continue to ensure our shared customers have the best experience using our products.”
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mood · Sep 29, 2020

[Update 2: New Lawsuit] Sonos is suing Google for allegedly stealing patented speaker technology
September 29, 2020
https://www.xda-developers.com/sonos-suing-google-smart-speaker-patents/

Update 2 (09/29/2020 @ 2:21 PM ET): Sonos has filed a new patent lawsuit against Google, alleging the company is violating five of its wireless audio patents.
Update 1 (6/11/20 @ 5:00 PM ET): Google is countersuing Sonos for alleged patent infringement. Scroll to the bottom for more information. The original article, as published on January 7, 2020, is preserved below.
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Update 2: Sonos files another patent lawsuit
Google is set to announce a new Chromecast and Nest smart speaker tomorrow, and Sonos is not happy about that. The maker of home audio gear has filed another patent lawsuit against Google (via The Verge), alleging the company’s entire line of Chromecast and Nest products violates five of Sonos’ wireless audio patents:

“We think it’s important to show the depth and breadth of Google’s copying,” Eddie Lazarus, Sonos’ chief legal officer, said in a statement. “We showed them claim charts on 100 patents that we claimed they were infringing, all to no avail.”
In response, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda says that “Sonos has made misleading statements about our history of working together.”
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mood · Aug 13, 2021

Speaker Pioneer Sonos Fighting Google in ‘Golden Age of Audio’
August 13, 2021
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-sonos-fighting-google-in-golden-age-of-audio

U.S. trade judge scheduled to release his findings Friday

Sonos says Google is trying to undercut smart home competition

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Sonos Inc. became a favorite with audiophiles by selling sleek, wireless speakers for streaming music long before technology titans such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google entered the market with cheaper, internet-connected models.

Now Sonos is hoping a U.S. trade judge finds Friday that its partner turned foe, Google, infringed its patents for multiroom audio systems. Sonos is asking U.S. International Trade Commission Judge Charles Bullock to support its bid to block imports of Google’s Home and Chromecast systems and Pixel phones and laptops, which are made in China.

“Google has thrown everything at us in this case, but we believe that the evidence before the ITC demonstrates Google to be a serial infringer of Sonos’ valid patents and that the ITC case represents just the tip of the iceberg,” Sonos Chief Legal Officer Eddie Lazarus said in an earnings call Wednesday.
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Sonos and Google have each accused the other of bad behavior, and suits have been filed in California, Texas, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands. A federal judge last year said the legal fees being incurred in the global battle “will likely have been able to build dozens of schools, pay all the teachers, and provide hot lunches to the children.”

Tamlin Bason, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence, said a settlement could lead to a “multiyear royalty pact” of as much as $50 million a year, “given Google’s relevant market share.”
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Google won’t give in easily.

“Google will drag it on as long as possible and make it as expensive as possible,” Forte said in an interview.
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mood · Jan 7, 2022

Google loses Sonos patent case, starts stripping functionality from speakers
Rather than pay royalty fees to Sonos, Google is sending downgrades to customers.
January 7, 2022

Following a preliminary ruling in August, the US International Trade Commission has issued a final decision saying that Google infringed five Sonos smart speaker patents. It would be possible for this ruling to result in some products like the Nest Audio, Chromecast, and Pixel line being banned in the US, but Google has prepared ITC-approved software downgrades, which remove the infringing features from users' products.

Sonos essentially invented the connected speaker category for streaming music, but the advent of voice assistants has led to Big Tech stomping all over Sonos' territory.
Sonos says that while it was pitching Google for support of Google Play Music, Google got a behind-the-scenes look at Sonos' operations in 2013. Sonos says Google used that access to "blatantly and knowingly" copy Sonos' features for the Google Home speaker, which launched in 2016. Sonos sued Google in early 2020.
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On a Google Nest Community post called "Upcoming Speaker Group changes," a Google rep tells customers: [...]

Despite Sonos' win, the company hasn't gotten the outcome it wants. Sonos wants Google to pay royalties for its patents, not pull the rug out from under consumers by stripping features from already-purchased products. It sounds like until that happens, Sonos is going to continue applying pressure to Google.
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mood · Aug 8, 2022

Google sues Sonos over smart speaker and voice control tech
After Sonos won in court earlier this year
August 8, 2022

Google is striking back at Sonos with a pair of lawsuits alleging that the wireless speaker company is infringing on a number of its patents around smart speakers and voice control technology. It’s the latest volley in a back-and-forth battle over wireless speakers that has so far involved multiple lawsuits from Sonos, one lawsuit from Google, and one ruling in favor of Sonos that’s led to features being stripped from Google’s products.

These new lawsuits allege infringement of seven additional patents. One lawsuit focuses on hotword detection and wireless charging, and the other revolves around how a group of speakers determines which one should respond to voice input.
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Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the lawsuits are being filed to “defend our technology and challenge Sonos’s clear, continued infringement of our patents.” Castañeda said that Sonos had “started an aggressive and misleading campaign against our products, at the expense of our shared customers.”

Both lawsuits are being filed this morning in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Google plans to file similar lawsuits with the US International Trade Commission in the coming days that will seek to ban imports of any infringing Sonos products, Castañeda told The Verge.
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Sonos sues Google, alleging it stole its wireless speaker technology

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