Google used partnership to launch its own speakers
Sonos said Google used its partnership to launch its own speakers. The suit claimed that Google gained knowledge, as early as 2013, of Sonos’s patented wireless multiroom technology, which allows a listener hear music in different rooms, through a partnership that integrated Google’s music streaming system into Sonos speakers.
The suit said Google started to infringe a Sonos patent in 2015 when it launched its first wireless audio product, Chromecast Audio, and has continued to infringe other patents when it launched more speaker products. “Google has been blatantly and knowingly copying our patented technology in creating its audio products,” Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said in a statement reported by the Wall Street Journal. While Google remains “an important partner,” the two parties have not been able to find a solution, Spence added.
A spokesperson for Google said the company disputes the claims by Sonos and is “disappointed that Sonos brought these lawsuits instead of continuing negotiations in good faith.”
Sonos owns more than 750 patents in the US related to audio technology, the company said in the suit. After stealing its technology, the lawsuit alleged, Google used its dominance to flood the market and expand its product offerings, which now include premium and mini editions of its Google Home speaker. “These actions have caused significant damage to Sonos,” the company said in its lawsuit.
Sonos said in the suit it first raised infringement claims with Google in August 2016 and has notified the company multiple times since on infringement violations. Google failed to respond adequately, Sonos said, and instead created more products using its technology.
