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Sonos Inc. and Alphabet subsidiary Google LLC will face a federal trial in San Francisco on Monday over allegations that Google copied Sonos’ patented smart speaker technology in wireless audio devices like the Google Home and Chromecast Audio.
The case is part of a protracted intellectual property dispute between the former business partners that includes other lawsuits in the United States, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Sonos asked the court for $90 million in damages from Google in the San Francisco case, down from $3 billion after US District Judge William Alsop narrowed the case, according to a Google court filing. Sonos claims that Google infringed two patents related to wireless multi-room audio.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said that the case concerned “some very specific features that aren’t commonly used,” and that Sonos “mischaracterised our partnership and technology.”
Sonos declined to comment on the dispute.
The companies previously worked together to integrate Google’s music streaming service into Sonos products. Sonos first sued Google for patent infringement in Los Angeles and at the US International Trade Commission in 2020, accusing the tech giant of copying its technology during their collaboration.
Sonos won a limited import ban on some Google devices from the ITC last year, which Google has appealed. Google has faced its own patent lawsuits in California and in the International Trade Center.
Alsup had sharp words for both companies. Last month, their attack on one another’s expert testimony called the other “symbol of the worst patent litigation” with “a lot of ink spilled for little purpose.”
In the 2020 order, he referred to the “enormous” resources already spent on the conflict.
“By the end,” the judge wrote, “our parties’ legal bills will probably be able to build dozens of schools, pay all teachers, and provide hot lunches to children.”
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