Strategy in TECH...
Delaware District Judge Richard G. Andrews has delivered a decision that is sure to be a blow against D&M Holdings’ defense in its now long-running patent infringement dispute with Sonos, originally filed in October 2014. Judge Andrews has denied a motion by D&M to invalidate four key Sonos patents at the heart of their dispute and a key part of Sonos’ claim that D&M’s HEOS products infringe upon these and other patents.
In revisting the long-running saga of Sonos, Inc. vs. D&M Holdings, Inc. et. al., we find that after a series of skirmishes over scheduling issues – such as deadlines for filings and responses, and new claims and counterclaims filed – there appears to be a concerted effort by both parties to ratchet up the pressure. So far, it appears to our non-legally educated eyes that Sonos has a slight edge in this game, winning the scheduling skirmish and winning the right to expand the number of patents at issue.
The legal war between Sonos, Inc. and D&M Holdings, Inc. is really just getting started and already D&M Holdings has lost its first major battle – with U.S. District Judge Richard G. Andrews denying their motion to disqualify the attorneys representing Sonos. The matter, a patent infringement case filed by Sonos in late 2014 against D&M Holdings, Inc. dba The D+M Group, D&M Holdings U.S. Inc., and Denon Electronics (USA), LLC (D&M), is related to D&M’s HEOS line of wireless music systems.
Earlier this month, we reported that D&M Holdings U.S., Inc. (D&M) [and Denon Electronics] had responded to the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Sonos, Inc. (Sonos) this past October by asking the judge to dismiss or throw out the case. Now, in a surprising twist of events, D&M has followed this initial left jab with a right uppercut that may result in Sonos’ attorneys getting knocked out of the case altogether – whether the judge dismisses it or not.
