The wireless speaker manufacturer Sonos Inc. became famous as a smart music speaker manufacturer and is filed a lawsuit against Google in two federal court systems, arguing that the company has infringed five patents, including those that cover the technology to communicate wirelessly and synchronize the speakers with each other.
Sonos complaints go beyond patents and Google. His legal action is the culmination of years of increasing dependence on Google and Amazon, which then used their influence to squeeze the smaller company, Sonos executives said. The Sonos company requires of the court not only monetary compensationBut also a ban on the sale of Google smart speakers, smartphones and laptops in the United States.
According to Sonos, Google started infringing on its patents in 2015 with the launch of its first multi-room wireless audio product, Chromecast Audio.
Since 2015, Sonos maintains that such a "deviation" has gained momentum with the multi-room wireless audio system extended to various products.
Examples are Google Home Mini, Google Home, Google Home Max, as well as the Pixel range with smartphones, tablets, and even laptops.
"Google has persisted despite the fact that Sonos has warned Google of its violation on at least four separate occasions dating back to 2016," Sonos said in the complaint.
At the same time, According to the Sonos boss, the company's claims relate not so much to patents and Google, but to the general tendency to suppress the small pioneers of the market by large corporations.
The case is seen as the culmination of many years of increasing dependence on Google and Amazon, who used their resources to displace smaller companies, not only using standard technologies, but also subsidizing prices to flood the market with their products.
The lawsuit was filed only against Google, as Sonos doesn't want to fight on two fronts at once. The lawsuit states that Sonos has repeatedly proposed in recent years to find a mutually beneficial solution, but Google knowingly copying proprietary technologies into its products made no contact.
Sonos claims that negotiations have come to a standstill, as Google responded by imposing stricter rules for using Google's virtual assistant in response to requirements to license Sonos technology.
A spokesman for Google said there has been a discussion about intellectual property issues between companies for several years and Google is disappointed that Sonos has decided to sue instead of continuing the negotiations.
Over the years, we have had many ongoing conversations with Sonos about the intellectual property rights of the two companies and we are disappointed that Sonos has launched this lawsuit rather than pursuing good faith negotiations.
Google disagrees with the claims and will defend itself actively in court. Google has the opportunity to apply its broad pool of patents to sue Sonos, but Sonos can count on a settlement that has been completed under pressure from public opinion and the threat of a new antitrust proceeding.
On the other hand, Amazon said that Echo devices and the technology of grouping speakers in different rooms They are independently developed and do not overlap with Sonos patents.
De the patents that Sonos argues that Google violated
- US9219959: Pairing of individual devices to simulate multichannel sound in a multimedia system.
- US10209953: organization of the operation of the playback device in synchronized multimedia systems.
- US8588949: Method for adjusting the volume levels of the multi-media system.
- US9195258: It is a method of synchronizing operations on several independent multimedia devices.
- US10439896: connection of playback devices via WLAN.
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