Google Loses Bid to Delay Nest Patent Trial Over Covid Concerns

Judge Alan Albright won’t postpone a patent trial against Google LLC over the tech company’s concerns about the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus and its impact on Google’s witnesses.

An in-person jury trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 31 in Waco, Texas. Google asked the trial, involving smart home energy patents, be pushed to March 28 because several of its witnesses won’t attend the trial in person due to the variant’s surge.

Albright, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, denied Google’s request for a continuance in a Wednesday order.

The judge ...