Google fined over US$30 million for patent infringement

Back in early 2020, Sonos filed a lawsuit against Google and Amazon, claiming that they each infringed on no less than 100 patents. Since then, the legal battle between Sonos and Google has escalated with two countersuits from Google. The last one, dated last year, focused on Google Assistant-related patents that were allegedly infringed on by Sonos. At the end of September, Sonos expanded its initial claims by adding five more patents containing technology that Google used without a prior licensing agreement.

In a previous ruling, US District Judge William Alsup has shown that Chromecast Audio and Google Home infringed on Sonos' patent concerning the grouping of speakers to play audio content simultaneously. However, that ruling focused on the early versions of Google's hardware. This week, the jury decided that the more recent versions also infringed on the patent. However, they also ruled that Google did not infringe a second patent, which covered remote control of the devices using a smartphone or tablet.

In a statement to Engadget, Google said: "This is a narrow dispute about some very specific features that are not commonly used. Of the six patents Sonos originally asserted, only one was found to be infringed, and the rest were dismissed as invalid or not infringed."  The tech giant has also stressed that it has always developed its technology independently and is currently considering its next steps in this legal battle.

The US$32.5 million fine is far from enough and Sonos claims that Google still has to pay "a fair royalty for the inventions it has appropriated," after mentioning in a statemet that their competitor has allegedly violated no less than 200 patents.

Google can appeal this recent decision and will probably do so. Remains to see what will happen after that, but it is certain that the legal battle with Sonos will continue for years.

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