ITC judge sides with Sonos over Google in preliminary patent ruling

More than a year ago, the Sonos speaker company filed a lawsuit against Google, seeking to have some Google products blocked from the United States on an alleged patent violation. Fast forward several months and a preliminary conclusion on the issue was revealed: the ITC took the party of Sonos, but this is only an initial decision.

The battle of Sonos with Google has proved long and there are a minimum of several months of waiting waiting. The initial trial of January 2020 was followed in September 2020 with another Sonos trial against Google, it on the alleged violation of five wireless audio patents.

As expected, Google has slapped with a commissioner against Sonos after submitting the initial trial. A spokesman for Google had declared at the time that the company has designed its technologies and its devices independently and that it did not felt the patents of Sonos.

In an update on the issue today, Sonos announced that the United States of the ITC had headed for its favor, noting that Google has violated the five named patents. Note, it is an initial decision of the ITC of what should be a long battle of court.

Many details are lacking; It is not clear for the moment which prompted the judge to see that Google had broken patents. Similarly, this initial decision is only the beginning. The Full Commission will have to issue a final decision on the issue, something currently scheduled for December.

In a statement on the preliminary decision, the legal leader of Sonos Eddie Lazarus said:

Today, the ALJ found that the five patents Sonos Asserts are valid and that Google breaks down the five patents. We are pleased that the ITC confirmed the flagrant violation of Google’s patented inventions of Sonos. This decision reaffirms the strength and extent of our portfolio, marking a promising milestone in our long-term pursuit to defend our innovation against the damage diversion of wholesale monopolies.

The complete decision of the judge should be available in the coming days.