Federal Circuit OKs Google’s Petition to Move Sonos Case to Calif.
The U.S. Appeals Court for the Federal Circuit granted Google’s petition to transfer Sonos’ patent infringement case against the company to the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California from the Waco, Texas, federal court where the case…
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originated. The Waco district court erred when it denied Google’s motion for the transfer on grounds that Google “had failed to make a showing sufficient to justify transferring the case,” ruled the Federal Circuit Monday. “The district court’s refusal to transfer the case” amounted to “a clear abuse of discretion” because it improperly weighed the factors favoring the transfer to California, the ruling said. The Sonos suit, filed a year ago, alleges Google devices infringe five inventions on technology for streaming music from the cloud to wireless playback devices. Sonos won an initial determination at the International Trade Commission that Google infringes a separate set of five Sonos multiroom wireless audio patents. The ITC is scheduled to release a final determination in mid-December. Google declined comment on the Federal Circuit's order. A Sonos spokesperson emailed: “While we respectfully disagree with today’s decision, we have a very strong case and look forward to moving forward expeditiously in California.”