Google is hitting back at Sonos with two lawsuits alleging the wireless speaker company infringes on a number of its patents related to smart speakers and voice control technology. It’s the latest salvo in a back-and-forth battle over wireless speakers that has so far included multiple lawsuits from Sonos, one lawsuit from Google and one ruling in Sonos’ favor that has resulted in the removal of features from Google products.
These new lawsuits allege seven additional patents are infringed. One case focuses on hot word detection and wireless charging, and the other revolves around how a group of speakers determines who should respond to voice input.
Google says Sonos has “launched an aggressive and misleading campaign against our products”
Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said the lawsuits are being filed to “protect our technology and challenge the clear, ongoing infringement of our patents by Sonos.” Castaneda said Sonos has “launched an aggressive and misleading campaign against our products, at the expense of our common customers.”
Both lawsuits were filed this morning in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Google plans to file similar lawsuits with the U.S. International Trade Commission in the coming days, which will seek to ban the importation of any Sonos products that infringe copyrights, Castaneda told The Verge.
The legal battle began in 2020 when Sonos initially sued Google over its multi-room speaker technology. The two companies partnered years earlier to make Google services work with Sonos speakers, and Sonos claims Google stole speaker technology to create Google Home and other devices. Google countersued months later, claiming Sonos also infringed on a number of its patents. Sonos then sued again. Finally, in January — two years after the first lawsuit was filed — the US International Trade Commission ruled in favor of Sonos, finding Google infringing on Sonos’ patents.
In response, Google had to adjust the features of some of its products. This includes removing Google from being able to adjust the volume of a group of speakers at once – a rather annoying change for owners of multiple Google speakers. Today’s lawsuits appear to be Google’s attempt to gain leverage over Sonos as the two spar over features.
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