Amazon Alexa Devices Didn't Infringe Patents, Jury Finds

Law360 reported that a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas found that Amazon’s Alexa-powered smart home devices did not infringe patents held by Innovation Sciences Inc., and further concluded these patents were invalid.

Innovation Sciences had alleged that Amazon’s products, including the Echo, Alexa voice service, Fire TV and Fire tablets, infringed three of its patents. It had sought damages in excess of $100 million, as well as a finding that Amazon’s infringement was “willful,” which allows the district court to increase the damage award by up to three times the jury’s award.

According to Law360, jurors found that Innovation Sciences Inc. failed to prove Amazon infringed any of the claims asserted in its patents and also concluded Innovation's patents were invalid as well. In addition, the case appears to be only the third time following the Federal Circuit’s decision in Berkheimer v. HP that Section 101 eligibility has been tried to a jury. On that subject, the jury found that the asserted claims were directed to conventional, well-known and routine technology.

Amazon was represented by Fenwick patent litigation partners David Hadden, Saina Shamilov and Todd Gregorian; senior associates Ravi Ranganath and Jeffrey Ware; and associates T.J. Fox, Dargaye Churnet, Eric Young and Sapna Mehta.

The case is Innovation Sciences LLC v. Amazon.com Inc., case number 4:18-cv-00474, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

The full article is available on Law360 (subscription required).​​