Simply as the unique Chromecast streaming dongle is popping 10 years previous, a brand new controversy has surfaced involving the favored streaming expertise. A federal jury in Texas has determined that Google’s Chromecast and different units utilizing the identical expertise are infringing on a patent and should pay $338.7 in damages.
As reported by
Reuters, the lawsuit was introduced forth in 2021 by New York-based firm Touchstream Applied sciences. Touchstream demanded a surprising $338.7 million in damages, a greenback quantity that has been totally awarded on this case’s resolution.
This can be a vital authorized setback for Alphabet’s Google, as an identical authorized dispute was misplaced by the corporate just some months in the past when the corporate was ordered to pay Sonos $32.5 million in damages in a case involving its good audio system. Now, it looks as if historical past is repeating itself, besides this case is far greater.
Touchstream Applied sciences, identified for creating the social video app “Shodogg,” alleged that Google’s in style Chromecast and different units had been infringing upon patents associated to the streaming of movies from one display screen to a different. The corporate claimed that its founder, David Strober, invented the expertise in 2010, permitting customers to “transfer” movies from smaller units, akin to smartphones, to bigger screens like televisions.
In response to Touchstream’s criticism, Google had met with them in December 2011 to debate their expertise however subsequently expressed disinterest simply two months later. This was adopted by Google’s introduction of its
Chromecast media-streaming units in 2013, which Touchstream alleged had copied their improvements and infringed on three of their patents. The lawsuit additionally included claims of infringement on Touchstream’s patents by Google’s House and Nest good audio system, in addition to third-party televisions and audio system with Chromecast capabilities.
A Google spokesperson has since then responded to the decision by stating that the patents are invalid and that firm does plan to attraction the choice. Moreover, Google acknowledged that they’ve “at all times developed expertise independently and competed on the deserves of our concepts.”
This victory, nevertheless, raises questions concerning the state of comparable different pending lawsuits Touchstream has filed in opposition to cable firms akin to Comcast, Constitution, and many others. It will likely be attention-grabbing to see how this develops and the way, if in any respect, it can have an effect on the tempo of innovation in terms of media streaming.
Header picture by EricaJoy, CC BY-SA 2.0 , through Wikimedia Commons
