Digital multi room audio pioneer Sonos just sued Google in US Federal court over patents that it says Google infringed upon.
Back in 2013 Google agreed to design its music service to work easily with Sonos range of multi room audio amplifiers and speakers. As part of this project, Sonos effectively handed over the blueprints of it’s speaker designs.
At the time Google was an internet company and didn’t make hardware for the smart home, let alone speakers.
Patrick Spence - CEO of SONOS
“We’re left with no choice but to litigate, Google has been blatantly and knowingly copying our patented technology,”
“Despite our repeated and 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.”
Sonos were also rumoured to be also gunning for Amazon and their Alexa range of speakers but had decided they couldn’t risk battling two tech giants in courts at once. Both companies had responses to the move by Sonos.
Jose Castaneda - Google
“Google and Sonos had discussed both companies intellectual property for years, and we are disappointed that Sonos brought these lawsuits instead of continuing negotiations in good faith. We dispute these claims and will defend them vigorously,”
“The company did not infringe on Sonos’s technology. The Echo family of devices and our multiroom music technology were developed independently by Amazon,”
Sonos is initially suing over five patents but insists that Google has violated more than a hundred.
It’s becoming increasingly common for the mega-tech companies such as Apple, Amazon and Google to be accused of exploiting their leverage over other companies and even consumers to push their products.