Audio company Sonos has sued Google for allegedly copying its patented speaker technology while undercutting it at market. The New York Times reports that it filed two lawsuits covering five patents on its wireless speaker design. Sonos is also asking for a sales ban on Google’s laptops, phones, and speakers in the US through a separate case with the International Trade Commission.
Sonos claims that Google stole its multiroom speaker technology after getting access to it through a 2013 partnership. The original partnership would let Sonos speakers support Google Play Music, but the company allegedly used patented technology in its now-discontinued Chromecast Audio device, then continued to use it in the Google Home lineup of smart speakers and the Pixel product lineup. Meanwhile, Sonos says Google subsidized its own products to sell them at a cheaper price while using them to extract more data from buyers.
Sonos says it warned Google about the infringement several times, starting in 2016, a few months after Google announced its Home smart speaker. It claims to have repeated the warning in 2018 — after the release of the Google Home Max and Home Mini — and by February 2019, it had accused Google of infringing on 100 Sonos patents. The lawsuit cites numerous news reports that point out similarities between Google’s new product features and systems that Sonos had already pioneered, including synchronizing audio across groups of speakers, adjusting the group volume, and setting up devices on a local wireless network.
“Google is an important partner with whom we have collaborated successfully for years, including bringing the Google Assistant to the Sonos platform last year. However, Google has been blatantly and knowingly copying our patented technology in creating its audio products,” Sonos CEO Patrick Spence tells The Verge. “Despite our repeated and extensive efforts over the last few years, Google has not shown any willingness to work with us on a mutually beneficial solution.”
In the Times, Sonos argues that Google took the opposite tack by sabotaging its attempts to stand out. It describes an attempt to make a smart speaker that could simultaneously support multiple voice assistant platforms, which ended with Google and Amazon forcing Sonos to make users pick one during setup. And Sonos executives claim Google has promised to pull its assistant off the speakers if it ever appears alongside a major competitor.
The list of allegedly infringing products is exhaustive. In addition to the Chromecast Audio and Google Home lineup, it includes the Chromecast and Chromecast Ultra; the Nest Mini, Nest Hub, Nest Hub Max, and Nest Wifi Point; and the Pixel phones, Pixel Slate tablet, and Pixelbook laptop. (The Pixel devices are listed as “infringing hardware controller devices” that have infringing Google audio apps preinstalled.)
Sonos claims that Amazon has also violated its patents with the Echo device family, but the Times writes that its executives decided against “battling two tech giants in court at once.” Amazon and Google both denied infringement claims to the Times. “Over the years, we have had numerous ongoing conversations with Sonos about both companies’ IP rights and we are disappointed that Sonos brought these lawsuits instead of continuing negotiations in good faith. We dispute these claims and will defend them vigorously,” a Google spokesperson told The Verge.
The lawsuit is about more than individual patents — it’s a response to increasing anti-competitive pressure from tech giants. Sonos still relies on ties with Google and Amazon, which make the leading virtual assistants for smart speakers, among many other products. Spence tells the Times that he has spoken with House of Representatives staffers about testifying before the antitrust subcommittee. Meanwhile, Sonos recently acquired a “private-by-design” AI voice platform called Snips to compete with Google Assistant and Amazon’s Alexa.
Sonos v. Google by Russell Brandom on Scribd
Comments
Suddenly the snails pace with which Google Home compatibility was added makes perfect sense.
By Ghost650 on 01.07.20 12:23pm
And they didn’t even make anything good afterwards.
By girma on 01.07.20 12:23pm
inb4 Google Assistant mysteriously disappears from the Sonos One and Sonos Beam.
By MysteryMii on 01.07.20 12:28pm
Why do you thing they didn’t sue Amazon because they would have disappeared from the Amazon store lol
By MA2756AM on 01.07.20 1:44pm
Crazy how such a seemingly simple thing is so hard to execute. Sonos was way ahead of everyone in this department. Apple might have figured it out but there isn’t any way I’m buying a third Home Pod to find out (Stereo Paired are pretty great though).
By This Is My Next Post on 01.07.20 12:31pm
I’ll go get the popcorn.
By zduboss on 01.07.20 12:54pm
This is ridiculous honestly. It’s like patenting the table; Sue anyone that makes flat surfaces…
It’s completely unreasonable for them to sue over the ability to play music in multiple places at once. Those ceiling speakers in certain apartments/houses have had this feature for years.
By alexwmagic on 01.07.20 12:56pm
"Don’t hate the player, hate the game".
By timadam on 01.07.20 12:59pm
Just so you know, they are suing only Google. Not Apple, Amazon or others.
With your analogy, they are not suing everyone who makes flat surfaces or tables. They are suing the one company who uses their manufacturing method to make flat surfaces.
By I am not Spartacus on 01.07.20 1:12pm
They’re only suing google but they’re also saying Amazon committed the same infringement. From the article: "Sonos claims that Amazon has also violated its patents with the Echo device family."
By brnpttmn on 01.07.20 1:22pm
you should F’in read the article before coming to post here. they mentioned amazon infringed too but not taking them to court because they dont want to battle 2 giants(the truth is they dont want to fight amazon because amazon will play dirty and remove sonos from the store.
By JamesWr8 on 01.07.20 2:10pm
Yes, I should F’n read the article before posting. I didn’t do so because I had previously read the news somewhere else, I was busy in commute, and the title didn’t mention Amazon. While I apologize for that huge mistake , my point is still valid. Sonos is not suing Apple because they think Apple didn’t infringe their patents. So it is clearly not a blanket statement to claim that they own the "flat surface" business.
By I am not Spartacus on 01.07.20 2:56pm
That power imbalance is frightening. It makes serfs of almost any seller that has to rely on amazon.
By Alar's Ashes on 01.07.20 3:58pm
Where does it say they’re suing "over the ability to play music in multiple places at once"?
They are suing over the technology used to facilitate synchronizing music on multiple speakers wirelessly. Not the idea of it. The fact is, the patents for the tech exists and if Google is using that tech, then they should be licensing it from Sonos.
By Ghost650 on 01.07.20 1:36pm
You don’t comprehend. They are asserting that Google stole their proprietary underlying tech while working together to allow Google Play Music to work on Sonos systems. They are not suing simply because multi-room audio.
By shabanga on 01.07.20 1:49pm
If you read the complaint, they are asserting that Google’s multi-room audio is using their IP because it doesn’t use a controller. Their patent is about allowing devices to communicate with each other in order to stay in sync, control volume levels, etc. They are using news articles discussing Google’s devices seeming similar to Sonos devices as evidence in the IP theft. There is nothing about the underlying tech being found — just that is works like their IP outlines.
After reading the complaint, I can see some validity in their thinking that their IP is being infringed. But, I can also see where Google can assert that the IP is too vague and should be invalidated. We will have to see how this plays out. I would guess this is a negotiation tactic and will get settled well before it reaches trial.
By LordDavon on 01.08.20 11:31am
There is more to a patent than just the title. They need to describe a specific method to accomplish the goal. If that method is too general or obvious, the patent will likely be rejected or at risk of being invalidated.
By err404 on 01.07.20 2:53pm
IF ONLY it was that simple. Everyone hates patents when their favorite brands are on the receiving end of being sued, but nobody considers why the patents system exists in the first place. How about Google gives the code to Sonos for their entire voice AI stack and we call it even, because after all, google didn’t invent the idea of a voice assistant, did they? How can they patent the code? It’s just another table in the end.
The reality is 100 patents specific to a technology and market they created(multi-room, premium, streaming, synced) from basically nothing, they are hardly trolling or patenting a basic concept. I’m sure google/amazon didn’t copy code, but they certainly borrowed key design elements from how they synchronized music between rooms. And for those that didn’t, Apple, the results speak for themselves. Laggy, awful. Airplay 2 is simply a mess for multi-room. So yes, I 100% believe Google and Amazon are using their enormous weight to steal ideas from Sonos and try to quickly run them out of the market(and legal money to defend themselves) like a cheap chinese knock off.
By Parkerthon1 on 01.07.20 4:10pm
According to the original article in the NY Times Sonos already had a list of over 100 patents Google infringed upon. That’s not the table, but also the materials, dimensions, tooling, colours, etc etc. I don’t think it’s a coincidence Google caught up with their smart speakers that fast
By DanielKN on 01.08.20 8:20am
Your ceiling speakers have wires, dude. Think about the issues with syncing music wirelessly, and you’ll understand the value of this tech.
By Runesmith on 01.08.20 9:24am
Of course the idea that these tech companies could partner and collaborate nicely was too good to be true. I wonder if we’ll eventually end up with no voice assistant on the One and/or Beam.
By flamin'pom on 01.07.20 1:22pm
Love my new Echo Studio. Thank you Sonos!
By LordDavon on 01.07.20 1:27pm
I have a feeling Amazon are going to pull their services down the line. This is about to get messy…
By axellink on 01.07.20 1:29pm
They went a little too neuclar on this, asking for a sales ban on what amounts to just about Google’s entire hardware lineup. Google is going to respond really hard.
By CoryDS on 01.07.20 1:33pm
With a nice fat paycheck to Sonos.
By anekin007 on 01.07.20 1:43pm