Initially, Sonos had asked the ITC to take action on all sorts of Google devices, including not just the company’s Google Home smart speakers, but also Pixel phones, according to theWe’ve asked both Google and Sonos if any particular devices might actually be blocked from import because of the ruling, and we’ll let you know what we hear.
Either way, it’s a major public blow to Google’s hardware business, which has been growing bigger and bigger in the smart home space, including smart speakers, cameras, and prominently in Wi-Fi routers, where the company claimed its Google WiFi / Nest WiFi was the best selling router in the entire market in 2019.Here’s the full statement from Sonos Chief Legal Officer Eddie Lazarus:
We appreciate that the ITC has definitively validated the five Sonos patents at issue in this case and ruled unequivocally that Google infringes all five. That is an across the board win that is surpassingly rare in patent cases and underscores the strength of Sonos’s extensive patent portfolio and the hollowness of Google’s denials of copying.
It is a possibility that Google will be able to degrade or eliminate product features in a way that circumvents the importation ban that the ITC has imposed. But while Google may sacrifice consumer experience in an attempt to circumvent this importation ban, its products will still infringe many dozens of Sonos patents, its wrongdoing will persist, and the damages owed Sonos will continue to accrue.
Google is a despicable company with one product, search.
Could Matter be a reason why Google didn't just settle in the first place. We all know they could pay for the licence to use the 5 patents that Sonos claims to have been breached. Why pay money when eventually the issue will be null void when Matter is released?
Maybe someone here can answer this. With the imminent development around Matter, which is designing communication protocols and smart standards (as I have interpreted). Will Matter solve this sort of issue around very general patents that Sonos seems to have a claim to?
Sonos Congratulations for standing up for Intellectual Property and the rights of inventors. We are sure your website is very busy right now! Our patented tech -The Original Virtual Waiting Room will prevent your website from crashing from visitor surges! LET'S TALK.
The problem is the broken patent system in the US. This isn't anything new, and hasn't been fixed yet. There are so many patent trolls in the US, who just buy companies in order to sue other companies for patent infringement
This will hurt Sonos more than anything, won't but any of their products ever again 😛
now do with every other company
Look, I don’t like Google, but Sonos what the fuck
I've was about to buy into the Sonos ecosystem. Now I'm definitely glad I didn't. I've never been one to support companies who play games hoarding patents for the simplest of things. Volume control, that's the pathetic.
Google, How much did the defense cost? Surely a licence arrangement could be worked out. And... my Sonos premium Wi-Fi speakers deliver great audio quality in all rooms.
How are these features a patented technology? Literary every network/smart speaker does it.
Update: Google's devices are unlikely to be banned, because the ITC already approved workarounds for each patent and some of them are already rolling out
Sonos sucks anyway