The Chromecast is arguably one of Google’s best pieces of hardware, and best software platforms too. The flexible standard makes it easy to send content from one device to another, whether that be audio, video, or still images. And Chromecast has now been in our lives for 10 years, but a new patent lawsuit against Google alleges that the company stole the idea for the tech.
As highlighted by ArsTechnica this week, a recent ruling from Texas saw a jury find that Google had infringed on three patents from Touchstream Technologies with its Chromecast and, in turn, ordered the company to pay $338.7 million in damages.
The lawsuit saw Touchstream claim that Google’s Chromecast tech had violated its patents (8,356,251, 8,782,528, and 8,904,289). The patents are titled “Play control of content on a display device” and do indeed describe the general idea behind Chromecast. The patent describes a “system” which can “present and control” content on a display which uses a “personal device” to “transmit a first message” over a network to then interact with a “display device coupled to the network.”
A system for presenting and controlling content on a display device includes a network, a server system coupled to the network and comprising one or more servers, a display device coupled to the network and having a display, and a personal computing device operable to transmit a first message according to a specified format over the network to the server system. The server system stores an association between the personal computing device and the display device. The first message identifies user-selected content and a media player to play the content. The server system is operable, in response to receiving the first message from the personal computing device, to provide to the display device a second message identifying the user-selected content and the media player to play the content. In response to receiving the second message, the display device is operable to obtain a first media player needed to play the content, to load the media player and to present the content on the display.
It is very reminiscent of how the Chromecast works, and Touchstream’s founder David Strober says that a “working prototype” was in place before the end of 2010 with the patent filed in April 2011. Touchstream claims that it met with Google in late 2011 and that a partnership was declined in February 2012.
Google launched the first Chromecast on July 24, 2013, ten years ago this week.
Touchstream, meanwhile, never released a device using these capabilities and appears to run no public-facing business today.
Google argues (rightly in this author’s opinion) that the patents are invalid on the principle of “obviousness” and adds that the patents are “hardly foundational and do not cover every method of selecting content on a personal device and watching it on another screen.” The company also pointed out (as reported by Law360) that Chromecast differs from Touchstream’s patents in that it uses a server and a display device where Touchstream describes a separate entity for the server and display. Google also said that Touchstream’s “only business is to attempt to monetize patents. If Touchstream receives damages, it will have fulfilled its only business purpose” and asked the court not to ban sales of Chromecast devices.
Touchstream claims that all Chromecast devices infringe on its patents, from the 10-year-old first-gen Chromecast (which recently stopped receiving updates) through the current Chromecast with Google TV and all Chromecast-integrated products which would include TV sets with Android TV OS, Google Assistant speakers, and more.
In a statement, Google confirmed it will appeal the decision, with a spokesperson explaining:
We strongly disagree with the verdict and will appeal. We have always developed technology independently and competed on the merits of our ideas, and will continue to defend ourselves against these meritless claims.
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