US judge: Google infringes Sonos patents – Voice and Vision – News

The first ruling by a US International Trade Commission judge says that Google has infringed on Sonos patents. The judge agrees with Sonos’ allegations that Google has infringed on five of its patents.

At present, it is a first judgment, which is therefore not binding, reports too New York times. The US International Trade Commission has not yet issued a final ruling, under which it will decide whether to accept or overturn the judge’s ruling. This is due on December 13th. This week’s ruling does not explain why a commercial judge concluded that Google infringed on patents.

Sonos sued Google In January 2020 due to the alleged infringement of five Sonos smartspeaker patents. The company has requested a ban on importing Google Home speakers, Nest, Chromecast, and Pixel smartphones into the US. These devices are manufactured in China and shipped to the United States. Thus, the import ban amounts to banning many Google devices from being sold in the US market. If the first ruling is accepted on December 13, this ban will not be imposed until after 60 days.

In a statement to the New York Times, a Google spokesperson said he was disappointed with the ruling, and said the company would continue to discuss its case in the upcoming review process. Eddie Lazarus, Sonos’ chief legal officer, called Google a “serial infringer” of Sonos patents earlier this week. The company is late the edge We know this ruling is “just the first step in a long battle,” but he calls it a “key milestone in the ongoing effort to defend Sonos technology against Google.”

Last year’s initial lawsuit was left behind counter charge from google And another Sonos complaint, in which the company alleges that Google infringed five additional patents. No statements were made on these matters. The companies are also embroiled in patent legal disputes in the Netherlands, France and Germany, as well as separate cases in the US states of California and Texas, The New York Times reports.