Sonos Claims Tiny Victory In Patent Infringement Case Against Google

Sonos simply received a small victory in its battle towards Google. According to the New York Times, a commerce decide has dominated preliminarily in favor of the speaker maker, saying that Google shouldn’t import merchandise that violate Sonos’s mental property.

Sonos had requested the United States International Trade Commission, or ITC, to dam imports of a number of Google gadgets, together with its sensible audio system, Chromecasts, and Pixel smartphones as a result of they allegedly infringe on Sonos patents.

The Google gadgets at difficulty are all manufactured abroad in China and shipped to the United States on the market. If the ITC guidelines towards Google, it could imply that Google had violated the Tariff Act of 1930. That’s the regulation that stops unfair competitors by any imported items that may have infringed on U.S. patents, emblems, and copyrights.

Sonos hasn’t received its case but. The ITC nonetheless has to just accept or reverse the decide’s resolution earlier than something is finalized. The fee’s listening to is scheduled for Dec. 13, and that’s the one that would result in an import ban, which might then go into impact 60 days later. In different phrases, this vacation season individuals could also be stocking up on Google collector’s objects.

Eddie Lazarus, Sonos’s chief authorized officer, mentioned in a press release to the New York Times: “This decision reaffirms the strength and breadth of our portfolio, marking a promising milestone in our long-term pursuit to defend our innovation against misappropriation by Big Tech monopolies.”

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Lazarus estimated that Google had infringed on greater than 150 patents owned by Sonos.

Sonos had requested the ITC to dam Google’s means to import merchandise again in January 2020, earlier than the pandemic took maintain. Months later, Google then filed a countersuit claiming Sonos had additionally infringed on its patents.

Sonos has had a busy week. Earlier this week, experiences that Sonos was engaged on a hands-free digital assistant for controlling its gadgets started circulating. “Hey Sonos”—which is very much like “Hey Google”—would exist alongside Amazon’s Alexa for individuals who need to decide in to a linked assistant not owned by Google. Sonos additionally has complaints towards Amazon for its “predatory pricing.” The firm has mentioned that it could have pursued it if it may have managed a lawsuit towards each Google and Amazon.

There remains to be time earlier than an official ruling, however the final result may have vital implications. Though it might look like two main tech firms are at odds over who bought to an concept first, there’s a little bit of a David and Goliath part to Sonos’ audio system versus Google’s. After all, the search big’s portfolio is a behemoth in comparison with Sonos’ speaker enterprise, which is why it’s at present within the sizzling seat for its anticompetitive practices.