Google’s 'Strong Arm Tactics' Would Make Robber Barons Proud, Says Sonos CEO
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence pulled few punches reacting to Google allegations his company is stealing “substantial volumes” of Google’s patented technology in search, audio processing and streaming (see 2006110024). Google’s complaint (in Pacer) against Sonos Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco came five months after Sonos alleged Google stole the technologies in five of its multiroom audio patents.
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Instead of addressing the “merits” of the Sonos allegations against Google, “and paying us what we're owed, Google has chosen to use their size and breadth to try and find areas in which they can retaliate,” said Spence in a statement Thursday: “We look forward to winning our original case, and this newly filed case as well.”
Google “seems to have no shame in copying the innovations of smaller American companies in their attempts to extend their search and advertising monopolies into new categories,” said Spence. “We're mostly sad to see a once innovative company with the mission of ‘Do No Evil’ avoid addressing the fact they've infringed on our inventions, and have turned to strong arm tactics the robber barons of old would have applauded." A Google spokesperson declined comment Friday.
We’re told Google for now won’t take its allegations to the International Trade Commission, as Sonos did against Google in January. The ITC’s Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into the Sonos complaint is in the discovery phase, where it reached an impasse over the remote review of source code evidence because in-person meetings aren't possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Google's complaint seeks a court injunction stopping the allegedly infringing Sonos activity. The Sonos ITC complaint seeks an import ban on Google devices. Sonos also has a companion complaint pending against Google in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, in which an injunction is sought.
The Google complaint said the company is “proud of its more than five-year partnership with Sonos.” The partners “worked constructively” together to make their products “work seamlessly by building special integrations for Sonos.” It cited one example when Google rolled out the ability to set a Sonos speaker as the default option for Google Assistant. According to the complaint, “it was the first time Google had done that for any partner company.”
The complaint alleges Sonos infringed five Google patents -- the same number of patents at issue in the Sonos complaint against Google. The patents date to 2006 "on innovative technologies that allow networked digital audio devices to create robust wireless communications networks," it said. The technologies also enable devices to "access and play copy-protected media, adaptively control echo and ambient noise, and search multiple music libraries simultaneously," it said. "Sonos is using, without permission, these Google technologies in Sonos’ products to enable multiple commercially-desirable features."
Google “operates in a competitive market and will continue suffering irreparable harm absent injunctive relief,” said the complaint. Besides an injunction, Google seeks damages “in an amount to be further proven at trial, including trebling of all damages awarded” for the infringement of five patents.