Google Tries to Crush Smart Speaker Rival Sonos with Lawsuits

Google is taking legal action against smart speaker company Sonos with two lawsuits alleging that the company is infringing on a number of its patents. The two companies have been locked in an ongoing legal war for years, with Sonos previously winning a case against the Masters of the Universe. The smaller company claims the lawsuits are designed to “retaliate against Sonos for speaking out against Google’s monopolistic practices.”

The Verge reports that Google is taking legal action against smart speaker company Sonos with two lawsuits alleging that the company is infringing on a number of Google patents relating to smart speakers and voice control technology. The two companies have been engaged in a long legal battle over wireless speakers involving multiple lawsuits from Sonos, one lawsuit from Google, and one ruling in favor of Sonos that has led to features being removed from Google products.

As Breitbart News reported in January:

Apple Insider reports that the United States International Trade Commission has upheld a previous ruling that found that Google had infringed upon five audio technology patents held by the speaker maker Sonos. The ruling stated that Google will no longer be able to import products that violate Sonos’ intellectual property in the United States.

The import ban is set to go into effect in 60 days and the entire situation will be subject to a presidential review during that period. The original ruling was made in August by Judge Charles E. Bullock and determine that Google violated section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930 relating to the sale and import of products that infringe five patents.

The new lawsuits allege infringement of seven of Google’s patents. One lawsuit focuses on hotword detection and wireless charging, and the other relates to how a group of speakers determines which one should respond to voice input. A Google spokesperson said that the lawsuits are being filed to “defend our technology and challenge Sonos’s clear, continued infringement of our patents.”

The Google spokesperson added that Sonos had “started an aggressive and misleading campaign against our products, at the expense of our shared customers.” Both lawsuits are being filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Google also plans to file similar lawsuits with the U.S. International Trade Commission in the coming days that will aim to ban imports of any infringing Sonos products. Eddie Lazarus, chief legal officer at Sonos, said that the new lawsuits are an “intimidation tactic” and they were intended to “retaliate against Sonos for speaking out against Google’s monopolistic practices,” allow Google to avoid royalty payments, and “grind down a smaller competitor.” Lazarus added: “It will not succeed.”

Read more at The Verge here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan