Sonos Speaker Company Files a Lawsuit Against Google for Stealing Patented Technology
Sonos Speaker company filed a lawsuit against Google for stealing their patented technology to manufacture its own line of products, says the New York Times report published this Tuesday. The company alleged the tech giant for taking five of its important patents and using them to create its own wireless technology. These speakers can be connected to the Internet and then can later be controlled by a mobile app. As a result, Sonos is forced to cut down its price and position in the market.
The lawsuit document which was initially obtained by the Verge Google got hold of the patented technology from Sonos through a 2013 partnership program between the companies. And since 2015, Google has been found infringing Sonos patents for creating their own line of products. More than a dozen of Google’s product use Sonos patented technology including the Pixel phones and Google home devices.
Sonos speaker company claims that Google has subsidized the prices of its products manufactured using patented technology and has flooded the market. In effect, Sonos’ business is getting hurt with these cheaper options. For instance, Google’s cheapest smart speaker the Google Home Mini starts at $49 and when it is on sale, the price cuts down up to $25 whereas Sono’s own speaker products cost around $179.
The lawsuit filed by Sonos further claims that Google also has an upper hand in sales as it collects user information and utilizes it for target marketing by running different ad campaigns. Sonos doesn’t stop there, it also extends the lawsuit and claims that Amazon has also violated Sonos’ patents. For now, Sonos is only suing Google because the company is not in a position to combat two tech giants.
Sonos speaker company are filing the lawsuit and suing Google in two courts. One lawsuit is filed at the federal district court while the other lawsuit is filed at the United States International Trade Commission. Sonos urge both the courts to seek undisclosed financial losses and place a ban on Google’s smartphones, laptops, speakers and other devices that are in infringement with the Sonos technology patents in the United States.
Today, the smart speaker market is attractively growing with some of the major tech giants like Amazon, Apple, and Google all selling their own speaker designs. One of the reports released by The Consumer Technology Association further shed light that smart speakers alone are accountable for making almost $3 billion in revenue alone in 2019. The report published was a mid-year report.
The CEO of Sonos, Patrick Spence has claimed that Sonos has warned Google countless times not violate since 2016 yet Google has persistently used Sonos patented technology for their own products.
Now they are left with no other option than to file a lawsuit against the firm. On one of the occasions, Spence declared,
“Google is an important partner with whom we have collaborated successfully for years, However, Google has been blatantly and knowingly copying our patented technology in creating its audio products. Despite our repeated & extensive efforts over the last few years, Google has not shown any willingness to work with us on a mutually beneficial solution. We’re left with no choice but to litigate.”
In response to Spence’s declaration, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda speaks out and says,
“Google and Sonos have had talks regarding intellectual property rights but Google disputes these claims and will defend their stance vigorously.”
Stay tuned as we will soon be publishing more interesting news on how things develop between Google & Sonos. Who do you think stands affirm at their claim? Sonos speaker company or Google. Comment below.
