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In Thursday, The U.S. International Trade Commission, which rules on import laws, found that Google, owned by Alphabet, infringed patents on audio technology held by Sonos smart speaker company, a significant gain for Sonos in the two-year David v. Goliath. The Commission said Google had infringed five Sonos patents and issued a “restricted exclusion order” banning the import of certain audio technologies, controllers and components manufactured by Google.
Not surprisingly, Google says it is not giving in: it plans to appeal and has 60 days to do so before the ITC’s decision takes effect. Sonos, meanwhile, has two patent infringement cases against Google that are still pending in federal court. “These two pending cases are important because the ITC does not have the power to award damages,” said Peter Thoren, a Washington-based intellectual property lawyer.
But Google clearly expected this to be the result of an ITC review, as back in August 2021, the company unveiled a series of product redesigns to ITC Judge Charles Bullock, who identified proposed workarounds. no infringe Sonos’ patents. Following ITC’s decision yesterday, Google shared some of the changes it is making to its smart speakers.
And how right Does the ITC decision, which has the potential to block all imports of certain products unless Google complies, affect the product experience? On the one hand, the changes that Google will introduce apply to Google’s smart speakers and Nest Hub displays. Google has not provided a complete list of affected devices, so it is unclear how or whether this affects other Google products, such as Pixel or Chromebooks. The updates will be released “in the coming days”, according to spokesman Nicole Addison. And so far, all updates are software-based.
Google says the ability to adjust the volume of group speakers will disappear; customers will now have to adjust the volume of each speaker individually. And “you will no longer be able to change the volume of the speaker group using the physical volume button on your phone,” the company said. Transmission features will also be affected on smart devices outside of Google with a built-in Chromecast, such as those made by Lenovo or JBL, unless the speakers have been updated to the latest firmware. And some users will no longer experience automatic software updates on their smart speakers; instead, they will need to download and install the Device Utility application. “This will ensure that your device is connected to Wi-Fi and will receive the latest software,” says Google.
This may seem like a relatively small change, but much of the appeal of multi-room wireless smart speakers – a market that Sonos pioneered when it launched 20 years ago – is the ability to sync multiple speakers and control them simultaneously. Part of this ease of use will be eliminated with these changes.
ITC’s decision could also affect Google’s future designs. And more changes may come along the line, depending on the outcome of federal lawsuits. (One of them, which was filed in the US District Court in Los Angeles, is on pause until the ITC decision is finalized, according to New York Times. The other case, which was filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, continues.)
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