Alphabet’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) shares inches up in pre trading session as the Sonos Inc. (NASDAQ: SONO) and Google LLC will square off in a federal trial in San Francisco on Monday over allegations that Google duplicated Sonos’ patented smart-speaker technology in wireless audio devices such as Google Home and Chromecast Audio.
The complaint is part of a larger intellectual property dispute between the former business partners, which also involves cases in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
According to a Google court filing, Sonos has requested the court for $90 million in damages from Google in the San Francisco lawsuit, down from $3 billion when U.S. District Judge William Alsup reduced the case. Sonos claims that Google violated two of its patents relating to multi-room wireless audio.
According to Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda, the lawsuit involves “some very specific features that are not commonly used,” and Sonos “mischaracterized our partnership and technology.”
Sonos declined to comment on the controversy.
Previously, the companies collaborated to integrate Google’s streaming music service into Sonos products. In 2020, Sonos filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google in Los Angeles and before the United States International Trade Commission, claiming the tech giant of stealing its technology during their partnership.
Last year, Sonos secured a temporary import restriction on select Google gadgets from the ITC, which Google has challenged. Google has responded with its own patent cases in California and before the International Trade Commission.
Alsup has been critical of both corporations. He termed their attacks on one other’s expert witness “emblematic of the worst of patent litigation” last month, with “much ink spilled for little purpose.”
He noted the “enormous” costs previously invested on the case in a 2020 ruling.
“By the end, our parties’ legal bills will most likely have been able to build dozens of schools, pay all of the teachers, and provide hot lunches to the children,” the judge wrote.
