Amazon Ordered to Pay $46.7 Million in Patent Infringement Case
A Delaware federal court has ruled that Amazon must pay $46.7 million for infringing on four patents owned by VB Assets with its Echo smart speakers and Alexa virtual assistant. The lawsuit, filed by Nuance Communications-owned VB Assets (formerly known as VoiceBox Technologies), claimed that it had already invented a circular speaker that could connect to the internet and respond to voice commands with a female, robotic voice.
According to the judgment, Amazon is required to pay the sum through a running royalty rather than a lump sum. The ruling follows a jury verdict that found Amazon guilty of infringing upon four of VoiceBox’s patents, which relate to network-coordinated conversational services, a conversational voice user interface, and tying advertisements to natural language processing of voice-based input. VB Assets had initially accused Amazon of infringing on six of its patents.
Amazon still has the option to appeal the judgment, while VoiceBox has the opportunity to seek reimbursement for related costs.
The lawsuit from VoiceBox claimed that it had developed a prototype similar to Echo and Alexa long before Amazon’s products were announced. The lawsuit included a link to a video on YouTube that appeared to be a news report about VoiceBox’s “Cybermind” prototype. The video demonstrated someone asking the speaker questions and giving prompts, with the speaker responding by pulling answers from the internet or the connected computer.
VoiceBox’s founders began working on bringing natural language understanding to computer applications in 2001. The company, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, has developed voice-controlled apps for GPS brands and cars.
The lawsuit also alleged that Amazon invited VoiceBox employees to meetings about VoiceBox’s technologies, only to later use their ideas and hire away employees. VoiceBox claimed that it first met with Amazon in 2011 to explore a potential business relationship, and Amazon announced the Amazon Echo and Alexa in 2014. Meetings about patents allegedly took place in 2017.
Amazon has not responded to requests for comment on the judgment.
This ruling comes as another setback for Alexa, Amazon’s voice assistant. In a 2021 ruling, a Delaware federal court found that Alexa did not infringe upon patents by IPA Technologies Inc. While the $46.7 million judgment is not as significant as other recent patent cases, it adds to the challenges faced by Amazon’s voice assistant, which has been struggling to generate revenue. Amazon’s devices head, David Limp, is also leaving the company this year.
In an effort to turn things around, Amazon unveiled its generative AI Alexa ambitions in September, hoping that the voice assistant will become so advanced and helpful that customers will be willing to pay a subscription fee for its most impressive features. However, this idea is still years away from becoming a reality.