Sonos sues Google claiming theft of smart speaker intellectual property

Sonos claims Google exploited the company's openness in 2013 collaboration to better integrate Google Play Music with Sonos's wireless speakers

Speaker firm Sonos has launched legal action against internet giant Google claiming that it stole smart speaker intellectual property from the company.

Sonos claims that Google took full advantage of Sonos's openness during a collaboration hatched in 2013, intended to help Google Play Music work seamlessly with Sonos's popular wireless loudspeakers.

"Google gained knowledge of Sonos's patented multi-room technology through a partnership with Sonos to integrate Google Play Music into the Sonos platform. However, just two years later in 2015, Google began willfully infringing Sonos's patents when it launched its first wireless multi-room audio product - Chromecast Audio," Sonos claims in its filing.

In particular, Sonos claims that Google has infringed five Sonos patents for technology that enables wireless speakers to connect and synchronise, incorporating the technology into the Google Home Mini, Google Home, Google Home Max, and Pixel phones, tablets, and laptops, in some cases subsidising the cost of the devices in order to gain market share.

Sonos adds that it has warned Google several times about its IP infringement since 2016. "Google copied key features from Sonos," the complain continues.

"These features include, for example, Sonos's patented technology for setting up a playback device on a wireless local area network, adjusting group volume of playback devices, and synchronizing playbackof audio within groups of playback devices…

"Google exploited the knowledge of Sonos's system that it gained from this integration work to develop its multi-room Chromecast Audio product and infringe Sonos's patents.

"Over the next four years, Google aggressively expanded its line ofmulti-room wireless audio products through new product releases and software updates… With each iteration, Google's copying of Sonos's products and patented technology became even more blatant."

Sonos is seeking a ban on the sale, not just of Google Home, Google's own smart speaker technology, but also smartphones and Chrome laptops in the US via a separate complaint to the International Trade Commission.