ITC Judge Sets July 20 Pretrial Hearing in Sonos-Google Patent Probe

Sonos and Google lawyers have until March 24 to submit a “joint procedural schedule” in the International Trade Commission’s Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into Sonos allegations that Google smart speakers and other devices infringe five Sonos multiroom audio patents. A pretrial hearing is set for July 20 and a final evidentiary hearing for Feb. 22-24, 2021, said an order (login required) in docket 337-TA-1191 signed Friday by Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock. Sonos and Google need to agree on dates in the schedule for two settlement meetings and one mediation session, said the order. The settlement meetings must be in person unless Bullock gives permission for “good cause shown” to hold them by videoconferencing or teleconferencing, it said. Bullock’s “initial determination” order Wednesday setting May 11, 2021, as the target date for completing the investigation added three months’ cushion to the calendar to account for workload pressures from a separate investigation, plus “potential scheduling disruptions” from COVID-19 (see 2003120001). His order Friday didn’t mention possible delays from the coronavirus.