#TechCEO: Sonos CEO Patrick Spence And His David-And-Goliath Fight Against Google

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is likely not somebody you've heard of in the tech space. But among the other Big Tech head honchos out there, he is the only one known to have done the impossible: sue Google, a giant among giants in tech, and win.

Here's a look at how that happened.

Sonos vs. Google 101

In truth, Google wasn't the only Big Tech name Sonos has sued over the years. But 2020 was a landmark occurrence as the smart speaker company filed a lawsuit against the tech giant for alleged patent infringement, writes The Verge. Their lawsuit was about Sonos disclosing several details about outs tech to Google to integrate the latter's voice assistant.

Soon after, Sonos argued that Google had copied their technology without permission, and then released products cheaper than that of Sonos' by using money they earned from search ads. A total of five Sonos patents were reportedly infringed on by Google, forcing the company to change the way their smart speakers work.

Patrick Spence was at the forefront of that trial, and is now hailed as some sort of cult hero for taking on a gargantuan tech power and winning. In an interview with the Financial Post, the Sonos CEO hoped that his company's actions shows that even small upstarts should not let Big Tech "trample on everything" they invent.

Previous Experience With Patent Fights

Spence has been in several patent fights in his career, even before taking the helm at Sonos. Before Sonos, he worked for 14 years at the now-defunct phone brand Blackberry, writes MoneyInc. He was instrumental in the company's phenomenal growth throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa during the turn of the decade.

Read Also: #TechCEO: Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son: One Of The Most Powerful Men In Tech That You Likely Never Heard Of

But aside from his work as Blackberry's Executive VP of Sales and Marketing, Spence also experienced a few patent fights during his time. That's because Blackberry almost always found itself in conflict with so-called patent trolls and rivals, as modern smartphones were starting to become a thing in the 2010s.

He wasn't the one driving this, however, but former Blackberry co-CEO Jim Balsillie. "IP is the currency of the knowledge-based economy and the fight for its ownership is an everyday reality for businesses that participate in value chains. You cannot commercialize what you down own," Balsillie said.

Clearly, this philosophy helped inspire Spence's future work and policies with Sonos. Here is a video explainer of the lawsuit if you want to learn more:

Brief Career Background

So, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is more or less a giant slayer. But to reach that level of reputation, he had to have experience. And fortunately, he had that in spades - and then some.

Before joining Sonos as its Chief Commercial Officer in 2012, Spence, as previously mentioned, worked for Blackberry for 14 years. But back then, the company was called Research in Motion (RIM) and it wouldn't be until 2013 (a year after Spence's departure) that it would call itself Blackberry.

His work at Blackberry allowed the company to grow from $50 million in revenue to over $20 billion. He also oversaw the growth of the company's workforce from a mere 150 people to over 17,000 employees during his tenure.

He took this massive success to Sonos, who has since seen huge growth of its own with Spence at the helm. Since being appointed as CEO in 2017 after five years as CCO, he has helped the smart speaker maker increase its year-over-year growth by 16%. Its customer numbers also grew by 1.8 million in 2021 alone.

Related Article: #TechCEO Meet Canva Co-Founder Melanie Perkins and Her Unrelenting Persistence

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce