A court in the United States has ordered Google to pay Sonos $32.5 million for infringing on the audio technology company’s smart speaker patent.
A San Francisco jury determined that Google’s smart speakers and media devices infringed on one of two Sonos patents, according to a court filing cited by The Verge.
The jury determined that Google should pay $2.30 for each of the over 14 million sold devices.
In a ruling issued in January of last year, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) determined that Google violated five smart speaker-related patents held by high-tech speaker and audio technology company Sonos.
For violating Sonos’ smart speaker patent, a US court ordered Google to pay $32.5 million.
In August of last year, an American magistrate ruled that Google had violated Sonos’ patents.
Sonos initially sued tech colossus Google in January 2020 for allegedly copying its wireless speaker design, imploring the ITC to ban Google laptops, phones, and speakers.
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence testified before the US House antitrust committee that Google prevented Sonos from simultaneously enabling Amazon’s Alexa assistant and the Google Assistant.
Google stated, “We do not anticipate any effect on our ability to import or sell our products.”
Sonos accused Google of violating a total of one hundred patents.
Google has always maintained that its technology was independently developed and not a Sonos copy.
The tech titan also sued Sonos, alleging that the company infringed on its smart speaker and voice control patents.