Google hit with $15 mn penalty in US trial over two audio patents

Written by Blake Brittain

(Reuters) – A Delaware federal jury said in a ruling released on Wednesday that Alphabet Inc’s Google Inc must pay $15.1 million to the patent holding company for infringement of two patents related to audio software.

Personal Audio argued that the Google Play Music app featured playlist downloading, navigation, and editing features that infringed its patent rights.

The jury also said that Google willfully infringed the patents, which could result in a judge increasing the ruling by up to three times the amount of the award.

Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said on Wednesday that the company was disappointed with the ruling and plans to appeal. He said the ruling related to a “discontinued product” and would not affect customers.

A spokesperson for Personal Audio’s Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth law firm said Wednesday that the firm is pleased with the ruling.

Beaumont, Texas-based company Personal Audio is seeking $33.1 million in damages, according to a May court filing. It first sued Google in 2015 over patents in a lawsuit that was later moved from Texas to Delaware.

The Delaware ruling came less than a month after a San Francisco jury ordered Google to pay Sonos $32.5 million for patent infringement amid a drawn-out intellectual property dispute between the companies over smart speaker technology.

The case is Personal Audio LLC v. Google LLC, US District Court for the District of Delaware, Case No. 1: 17-cv-01751.

For personal voice: Steve Hanley, Doug Hahn, and Salil Paley of Stradling Yocca Carlson & Rauth

For Google: Melissa Bailey, Jeff Nardinelli, David Perlson, Antonio Cestos, Patrick Stafford by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart, Sullivan

Read more:

US jury says Google owes Sonos $32.5 million in smart speaker patent case

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)