Today Google was dealt a massive blow as a jury ruled against Google in a lawsuit over its Chromecast devices and technology. The Jury said Google infringed on patents owned by Touchstream Technologies related to streaming videos from one screen to another.
According to the complaint, Google met with Touchstream Technologies back in 2011 but later told the company they wouldn’t be interested in working with them. In 2013 Google released its Chromecast device.
In 2021 Touchstream Technologies sued, saying Google infringed on its patents, and the Jury agreed with them. Now Google must pay $338.7 million in damages, according to a report from Reuters. Google’s efforts to argue that the patents were not valid did not hold up with the jury.
Toughstream Technologies also has pending cases against Comcast, Charter, and Altice that are all pending right now.
For now, there is no word on how this will affect owners of Chromecast devices. At this time, your devices will continue to work as normal.
Google has not commented yet if they will appeal the ruling or not.
Here is how Google describes the Chromecast with Google TV streaming player:
- Watch the entertainment you love, including live TV, in up to 4K HDR[1,2,3]; discover over 700,000 movies and TV episodes, plus millions of songs[2]
- Get fast streaming, and enjoy a crystal clear picture up to 4K and brighter colors with HDR[3]. Your Chromecast with Google TV (4K) can connect to either 2.4 or 5 Ghz network. Please be advised that your Chromecast can only connect to one Wi-Fi network at a time.
- Your home screen displays movies and TV shows from all your services in one place; get personal recommendations based on your subscriptions, viewing habits, and content you own
- Press the Google Assistant[4] button on the remote and use voice search to find specific shows, or search by mood, genre, actress, and more; control the volume, switch inputs, play music, and get answers, hands-free
- Chromecast is easy to install and compatible with almost any TV that has an HDMI port; to get started, just plug it into your TV’s HDMI port, connect to Wi-Fi, and start streaming[1]
- Use other Google speakers and displays to control your TV with your voice; or group them with Chromecast to fill your home with sound[5]
- Create a kids profile to access movies and shows for the family; pick a playful avatar and theme, set parental controls to restrict what streaming services are shown, limit watching time, and set a bedtime