Sonos accuses Google of infringing a total of 100 patents. (Image: Reuters)
A US court has ordered Google to pay $32.5 million to high-tech audio technology company Sonos for infringing on the company’s smart speaker patent.
A US court has ordered Google to pay $32.5 million to high-tech audio technology company Sonos for infringing on the company’s smart speaker patent.
A San Francisco jury’s decision found that Google’s smart speakers and media players infringed on one of Sonos’ two patents, The Verge reports, citing court filings.
Jurors said Google should be paid $2.30 for each of the more than 14 million devices sold.
In a ruling in January last year, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) said Google infringed on five patents of high-tech speaker and audio technology company Sonos related to smart speakers.
A US judge ruled in August last year that Google infringed on the Sonos patent.
In January 2020, Sonos first sued tech giant Google for copying its wireless speaker design, urging ITC to ban Google products such as laptops, phones and speakers.
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence testified before the US House Antitrust Committee that Google “prevented the company from having both Amazon’s Alexa assistant and Google Assistant active at the same time”.
Google had said “we do not expect any impact to our ability to import or sell our products”. Sonos accused Google of infringing a total of 100 patents.
Google has always maintained that its technology was developed independently and was not copied from Sonos.
The tech giant also sued Sonos, alleging that the company infringed on patents on smart speakers and voice control technology.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – IANS,
