Google has been ordered to pay $32.5 million to Sonos over smart speaker patent infringement
A US court has ordered Google to pay $32.5 million to high-tech audio technology company Sonos for infringing the company’s smart speaker patent.
A San Francisco jury verdict found that Google’s smart speakers and media players infringed on one of Sonos’ patents, The Verge reported, citing a court filing.
The jury said Google must pay $2.30 for each of the more than 14 million devices sold.
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) said in a ruling in January last year that Google had infringed on five patents of high-tech speaker and audio technology company Sonos related to smart speakers.
Last August, a US judge ruled that Google had infringed on Sonos’ patents.
In January 2020, Sonos sued tech giant Google for allegedly copying its wireless speaker design and urged the 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 allowing both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to work at the same time.”
“We do not expect any impact on our ability to import or sell our products,” Google said. Sonos has accused Google of infringing a total of 100 patents.
Google has always emphasized that its technology was independently developed and not copied from Sonos.
The tech giant has also sued Sonos, claiming the company infringed on its smart speaker and voice control technology patents.
