A judge has dealt Google a major blow in a preliminary ruling, finding the company infringed Sonos’ patents.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) judge sided with Sonos, in a suit the company brought against Google over its smart speaker patents. Sonos accused Google of abusing the partnership between the two companies to steal its technology.
Sonos acknowledged this ruling was merely the opening salvo in what is sure to be a long battle. In a statement to The Verge, a Sonos spokesperson said the ruling “is only a first step in a lengthy battle,” but an “important milestone in the ongoing effort to defend Sonos’ technology against Google.”
Google is denying any wrongdoing, issuing its own statement to The Verge:
“We do not use Sonos’ technology, and we compete on the quality of our products and the merits of our ideas. We disagree with this preliminary ruling and will continue to make our case in the upcoming review process.”
Should the ITC uphold the ruling, Sonos is asking for a sales ban against Pixel phones, Chromecasts and Nest Hubs.