Amazon wants ruling that cleared it of IP wrongdoing to be precedential

Amazon has requested a ruling that cleared it of trademark and copyright infringement relating to the actions of third parties on its site to be reissued as precedential.

The motion was filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Monday, July 11.

It comes after Amazon was sued by Washington-based design company Milo & Gabby for allegedly allowing “direct knockoff copies” of its animal-shaped pillowcases to be sold by third parties online.

By allowing third parties to use images of the pillowcases, Amazon had infringed Milo & Gabby’s IP, the company claimed.

As reported by WIPR in May, the Federal Circuit upheld a lower court ruling that cleared Amazon of copyright and trademark infringement claims, but the ruling was deemed to be non-precedential.

“Because the third-party sellers retain title to the pillowcases at all times and Amazon merely provides an online marketplace … Amazon is not a seller in this case for the purposes of copyright infringement,” the judgment said.

Amazon now wants this decision to be reissued as precedential to avoid similar cases in the future.

“By making the opinion precedential, the court would show district courts that direct patent infringement claims against online marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay should fail as a matter of law.

“Providing this guidance could help avoid unnecessary costs of litigating future cases past the pleading stage,” Amazon stated in the motion.

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