Google has been ordered to pay Sonos $32.5 million after infringing on the company’s smart speaker patents. A jury in San Francisco found that Google’s smart speakers and media players violated one of the two Sonos patents involved in the trial.
The dispute began in 2020 when Sonos accused Google of copying its patented multi-room audio technology after the companies collaborated in 2013. Sonos won that case at the U.S. International Trade Commission, resulting in a limited import ban on certain Google devices. Google has also been forced to remove certain features from its line of smart speakers and smart displays.
Google later countersued Sonos last year, claiming that the audio company infringed on patents for features from Google’s smart speakers and voice control technology. In the latest trial, which began earlier this month, Google lost. However, Sonos did not win entirely, as the jury determined that Google’s Home app did not violate a separate patent that Sonos had applied for.
