Snap One sues AI rivals over ‘copycat’ smart home remotes
Smart device maker alleges patent infringement and trade secrets theft | Dispute concerns a remote that consumers use as part of a connected control system at home or in business.
Smart home and business device manufacturer Snap One is suing two rivals over what it says are "virtual copycats" of its smart home remote.
In a complaint filed on Monday on August 14 at the US District Court for the District of Utah, the North Carolina-based firm made a series of claims against Ava and Josh.ai, two electronics companies based in Utah and Colorado respectively.
The allegations include breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and patent infringement.
Snap One alleges that the firms had attempted to exploit its IP and “bypass the years of work and effort necessary to develop market-leading smart home products” by releasing two “infringing” remote controls, and asked the court for damages and injunctions.
Ava and Josh Remotes
Among Snap One’s product lines is its Control4 automation range, which involves connected devices that consumers use at home or in businesses as part of smart control systems. These systems interoperate with thousands of third-party products.
In 2019, Snap One spent more than $10 million to buy Switzerland-based Neeo, which had developed a smart home remote. Several former Neeo employees then began working for Snap One and created an upgraded Neeo Remote, which Snap One released for use with its Control4 smart home systems in November that year.
According to the complaint, a group of former Neeo leaders, then employed by Snap One, left the firm less than two years after this launch to start a new company called Ava.
Snap One alleges that by “leveraging the intellectual property purchased or developed by Snap One, and without Snap One’s consent, Ava quickly developed a smart remote of its own (the ‘Ava Remote’)”.
This was “strikingly similar” to the Neeo Remote, the firm said, claiming that further market confusion was caused when Ava used Snap One’s Control4 trademark on its website and for marketing purposes. Ava did “eventually” refrain from using the trademark but its “misconduct did not stop there”, says Snap One.
The lawsuit states that Ava approached one of Snap One’s certified product development partners, Josh.ai, about a collaborative partnership. Josh.ai had produced a voice control system that was licensed to integrate with Snap One’s Control4 platform—part of a software development kit licensing agreement (the ‘SDK agreement’) between the firms.
Following the partnership, Ava embedded Josh.ai’s interface into the Ava Remote “gaining unauthorised access to, and interoperability with, Snap One’s Control4 platform”, Snap One claims. In June this year, Josh.ai announced the release of the ‘Josh Remote’, allegedly developed jointly by Josh.ai and Ava.
Both remotes “infringe on Snap One’s patents, incorporate Snap One’s valuable trade secrets and confidential proprietary information, and copy the Neeo Remote’s unique and innovative design”, Snap One says.
Multiple claims
The lawsuit lists some 11 claims for relief against the two defendants. These include that Josh.ai breached its contract with Snap One when it enabled Ava’s access to the Control4 platform “in an unauthorised manner”, and also breached contractual obligations regarding Snap One’s exclusive right to sell certain Josh.ai products to Control4 dealers.
Snap One says its trade secrets were misappropriated when its former employees started Ava and created the Ava Remote, and also by Josh.ai through its partnership with Ava and the creation of the Josh Remote.
Both remotes are “virtual copycats” of the Neeo Remote, according to the complaint, and Snap One alleges infringement of various patents. Ava is accused of infringing US patent number 8,375,137, while Josh.ai of infringing US patent numbers 11,140,426; 7,886,338 and 10,756,984. Both firms are accused of infringing US patent number 10,877,623.
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