Sonos sues Google over ‘pervasive copying’ of speaker tech
Home speaker maker Sonos has accused Google of copying its technology and “flooding the market” with cheap, infringing products in order to boost advertising revenues.
In a lengthy 96-page complaint filed yesterday, January 7, Sonos said that Google had rolled out a line of infringing products including Chromecast Audio, Google Home, and Nest Hub at subsidised prices in order to “lock in” revenues from e-commerce and advertising.
The home audio company wants the US District Court for the Central District of California to ban the allegedly infringing products and issue an enhanced damages award for Google’s “willful” violation of its patent rights.
Sonos, which released its first home speakers in 2005, claims that Google gained knowledge of its multi-room technology when the two partnered to integrate Google Play Music into Sonos’ products.
According to the complaint, Sonos warned Google that it was in breach of patent rights on at least four occasions since the release of the first allegedly infringing products in 2016.
Sonos said that, as recently as February 2019, it warned Google that it had infringed 100 of its patents.
‘Loss leaders’
In addition to releasing infringing, competing products, Sonos said Google has offered those products at subsidised prices as “loss leaders”. This, the complaint said, is part of a wider strategy to gather consumer data and boost advertising revenues.
“The harm produced by Google’s infringement has been profoundly compounded by Google’s business strategy to use its multi-room audio products to vacuum up invaluable consumer data from users and, thus, further entrench the Google platform among its users and ultimately fuel its dominant advertising and search platforms,” the complaint read.
Sonos said Amazon, referenced several times throughout the suit but not named as a defendant, had pursued a similar strategy of offering home speakers at discounted prices.
According to Sonos, its patented multi-room audio feature initially provided Google’s products with an advantage over those of Amazon, but noted that this functionality was soon added to Amazon Echo products.
Sonos did not accuse Amazon of infringing any of its patents in the complaint.
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