ITC Voted 4-0 to Grant Partial Review of Sonos-Google Decision

The International Trade Commission’s Nov. 19 vote was 4-0 to grant partial review of the Aug. 13 initial determination by Chief Administrative Law Judge Charles Bullock that Google violated Section 337 of the 1930 Tariff Act by importing smart speakers and other goods that infringed parts of five Sonos multiroom audio patents (see 2111210001), according to a voting sheet posted Friday in docket 337-TA-1191 (login required). Democratic Commissioner Rhonda Schmidtlein recused herself, as she has done throughout the Sonos-Google investigation. With its vote, the ITC delayed final disposition of the case until Jan. 6, but it appeared to inch the agency a step closer toward ordering an import ban on Google products.