Google Accuses Sonos of Stealing 'Substantial Volumes' of Its Patented Search Technology

Five months after Sonos charged Google with stealing the technologies in five of its multiroom audio patents (see 2001070041), Google returned the favor Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Sonos is stealing "substantial volumes of Google’s technology, including patented Google innovations in search, software, networking, audio processing, and digital media management and streaming,” alleged its complaint (in Pacer). It said Sonos hardware products and software and service offerings infringe five Google patents, the identical patent count in the Sonos allegations against Google. “Sonos has made false claims about the companies’ shared work and Google’s technology in the lawsuits that Sonos filed against Google earlier this year,” said the complaint. “While Google rarely sues other companies for patent infringement, it must assert its intellectual property rights here.” Google is "disappointed that Sonos has made false claims about our work together and technology," emailed spokesperson Jose Castaneda. "We are reluctantly defending ourselves by asserting our patent rights. While we look to resolve our dispute, we will continue to ensure our shared customers have the best experience using our products.” Sonos didn’t comment. Sonos and Google earlier Thursday declared they're deadlocked in the discovery phase of the Tariff Act Section 337 investigation at the International Trade Commission into the Sonos allegations that Google devices infringe the five Sonos multiroom audio patents (see 2002060070). There were no immediate indications Google in the new action would pursue a Section 337 complaint against Sonos, and Google spokesperson Castaneda sidestepped the question. The ITC combatants exited May at “an impasse regarding critical aspects of a protocol for remotely reviewing source code,” they told Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock in a progress report (login required). Sonos and Google agreed Tuesday to “table that dispute” as they try to organize an “in-person review” of the source code, they said. If COVID-19 makes the in-person review “impractical,” the companies may bring the stalemate before Bullock “for resolution,” they said. Sonos contends Google uses technologies stolen through various collaborations between the companies the past six years. Google counters it developed the technologies on its own and that they’re not the technologies described in the five Sonos patents.