Google wants patent reform after $32.5m damages verdict is thrown out
Tech company pushes for changes to US patent system to 'protect inventors and innovation' | California judge throws out verdict ordering Google to pay $32.5m in damages to Sonos | 'It is wrong that our patent system was used in this way' says judge.
Google has escalated its calls for patent reform following a recent victory in its patent dispute against Sonos involving the Nest smart home system.
On Friday, October 6, Judge William Alsup at the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled in favour of Google and threw out a $32.5 million verdict Sonos had secured in May.
Sonos had accused the tech giant of infringing patented technology through the sale of its Nest home speaker.
This week, on Tuesday October 11, Google issued a statement reiterating its long-standing argument that the patent system is “in need of reform to protect inventors while promoting innovation”.
The tech giant pointed to the court’s finding that: “It is wrong that our patent system was used in this way.”
Judge Alsup also added: “With its constitutional underpinnings, this system is intended to promote and protect innovation. Here, by contrast, it was used to punish an innovator and to enrich a pretender by delay and sleight of hand.”
Google then described the decision as an “unfortunate reminder” of aggressive actors abusing the patent system, and wasting time and resources.
In April 2022, Google initially expressed concern over the US patent system’s failure to promote innovation and called for a revision of the system.
Since Alsup’s verdict, Google hasn’t hesitated in rolling out the disputed Nest products, after making changes to the products and restoring features it had previously removed due to its patent dispute with Sonos.
Case background
Friday’s verdict rejected two of Sonos’ patents, after finding that they were invalid and unenforceable.
It also confirmed that Google had developed the technology first, and did so independently.
Alsup said: “This was not a case of an inventor leading the industry to something new….This was a case of the industry leading with something new and, only then, an inventor coming out of the woodwork to say that he had come up with the idea first—wringing fresh claims to read on a competitor’s products from an ancient application.”
Back in 2020, Sonos first accused Google of patent infringement in its multiroom audio technology.
Following this allegation, Sonos secured a victory at the US International Trade Commission in January 2022, resulting in a limited import ban on some of Google’s devices and the removal of some features from its smart speakers and smart displays.
Google then countered by suing Sonos at the ITC, alleging the infringement of seven patents that concerned voice input technology and hotword detection and wireless charging.
The dismissal of Sonos’ $32.5 million damage relief verdict this month is the latest development in the ongoing legal wrangle between the two companies.
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