Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen Xiao Zhan for the clue delivery! CTOnews.com, May 27 (Xinhua) A federal jury in San Francisco on Friday ruled that Google, owned by Alphabet, must pay $32.5 million in damages for infringing a patent of Sonos, a maker of smart speakers, for its wireless audio device.

It is part of a complex intellectual property dispute between the two companies that have worked together, which also involves other lawsuits in countries such as the US, Canada, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The two companies have worked together to integrate Google's streaming music service into Sonos products.

Sonos sued Google in Los Angeles and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in 2020, alleging that the tech giant copied its technology during their collaboration and used it in devices such as Google's Home and Chromecast Audio. Sonos won a limited import ban on some Google devices at ITC last year, but Google has appealed. Google has also filed patent lawsuits in California and ITC against Sonos, accusing Sonos of using Google's technology in its smart speakers. Sonos called Google's lawsuit a "scare tactic" aimed at "suppressing a smaller competitor".

The market capitalization of Santa Barbara, Calif.-based Sonos fell nearly 1/5 after it cut its revenue forecast earlier this month.

The jury found that Google infringed one of the two patents involved in Sonos's trial. Sonos had previously sought $90 million in damages from the court, which was reduced from $3 billion after U.S. District Judge William Alsup narrowed the scope of the case.

A Google spokesman said on Friday that the case was "a narrow dispute over specific features that are not commonly used" and said the company was considering its next move. A Sonos spokesman said the ruling "confirms once again that Google is the serial infringer of our patent portfolio".

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