Google is attacking Sonos with a pair of lawsuits that declare the wi-fi speaker firm infringes on a variety of patents associated to good audio system and voice management know-how. It is the most recent salvo in a back-and-forth battle over wi-fi audio system that has to this point concerned a number of lawsuits from Sonos, a lawsuit from Google and a ruling in Sonos’ favor that has resulted within the removing of options from Google’s merchandise.
These new lawsuits allege infringement of seven further patents. One course of focuses on sizzling phrase detection and wi-fi charging, and the opposite revolves round how a gaggle of audio system determines which ones ought to reply to voice enter.
Google spokesman José Castañeda stated the lawsuits are being filed to “defend our know-how and problem Sonos’ clear and persevering with infringement of our patents.” Castañeda stated Sonos “has begun an aggressive and misleading marketing campaign towards our merchandise to the detriment of our mutual clients.”
Each lawsuits are being filed this morning in the USA District Court docket for the Northern District of California. Google plans to file comparable lawsuits with the US Worldwide Commerce Fee within the coming days, which is able to search to ban imports of any infringing Sonos merchandise, Castañeda stated. The Verge.
The authorized confusion started in 2020, when Sonos initially sued Google over its multi-chamber speaker know-how. The 2 firms partnered years in the past to make Google companies work on Sonos audio system, and Sonos has argued that Google has continued to steal speaker know-how to construct Google Dwelling and different units. Google sued months later, claiming Sonos additionally infringed on a variety of patents. Then Sonos sued once more. Lastly, in January—two years after the primary lawsuit was filed—the US Worldwide Commerce Fee dominated in favor of Sonos, discovering that Google was infringing on Sonos’ patents.
In response, Google has needed to alter the options of a few of its merchandise. This included Google eradicating the flexibility to regulate the amount of a gaggle of audio system concurrently – a moderately annoying change for house owners of a number of Google audio system. Right now’s lawsuits seem like an try by Google to realize affect over Sonos as the 2 options.
