Google and Sonos will go to trial on Monday in a patent lawsuit brought by Sonos over the alleged theft of smart speaker technology.
The trial in San Francisco federal court is part of an ongoing
intellectual property dispute between the former partners that spans
multiple countries.
- Sonos has accused Google of copying its patented technology in Google Home and other wireless audio devices.
- The
patents involved in the San Francisco case relate to synchronizing
audio playback across speakers and eliminating echoes, among other tech.
- Sonos is now seeking $90M in damages from Google, down from $3B after a judge narrowed parts of the case.
- Google maintains that Sonos has misrepresented their partnership and mischaracterized their technology.
- The company has been redesigning its products so as to avoid infringing on the patents, a spokesperson said.
- Last year, the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled
in favor of Sonos, ordering Google to halt imports of products that use
technology from five Sonos patents. Google has since appealed that
ruling.
