Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge
So far in the patent infringement legal tussle between Sonos and Google, the former has notched several wins. But a ruling issued Friday has suddenly reversed that momentum, and Sonos has now been dealt a major setback. US District Judge William Alsup tossed out the company’s $32.5 million jury verdict win against Google and said two of Sonos’ key patents are unenforceable and invalid. That could make it much harder for Sonos to challenge other technology companies in court under similar claims of infringement.
“This was not a case of an inventor leading the industry to something new,” Alsup wrote in a decision that strongly criticized Sonos for bringing the suit in the first place. “This was a case of the industry leading with…