Santa Barbara-Based Company Wins Legal Battle Against Google Over Patent

Santa Barbara-based company Sonos won another battle in its war over patents for smart speakers and audio devices January 6, when the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Google infringed on five Sonos patents for the technology.

The commission stated in August that Google violated the Tariff Act by infringing on the Sonos patents, and its latest ruling affirmed the decision regarding patents for synchronizing audio across multiple speakers and other related speaker technology.

A cease-and-desist order was placed against Google as well as a ban that would block any importing of products that infringe upon those patents. The conflict was centered on Google’s Nest speakers and the ability to adjust the volume of the speakers as a group rather than individually. Google spokesman José Castañeda announced January 6 that the company disagrees with the commission’s decision.

This is not the end of the battle over patents between the two tech companies; Sonos has two more patent-infringement cases against Google at the federal level — one in Los Angeles and the other in San Francisco. Both were on pause awaiting the result of the International Trade Commission’s final decision.

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