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22 August 2016Patents

Amazon driven to court by patent claim

Online retailer Amazon has been sued for patent and trade dress infringement by Hawaii-based RimBlades USA, a developer and distributor of automobile accessories.

In a lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the District of Hawaii, RimBlades claimed that Amazon has infringed its patents by marketing and selling its own automobile accessories.

RimBlades is the owner of one design patent, US number D747,257 S, and one utility patent, US number 7,296,860 B2.

In the complaint, filed on Thursday, August 18, RimBlades also claimed that domestic and international third-party sellers, particularly based in China, have been using Amazon’s fulfillment service to sell products that infringe RimBlades’ patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights.

Because of the high volume of sellers on Amazon.com, it’s difficult for RimBlades to maintain an accurate and comprehensive list of all the infringing listings, although it claims that Amazon has marketed and offered to sell infringing products to Hawaii-based customers.

“Additionally, upon information and belief, Amazon acted in an objectively reckless manner with respect to RimBlades’ patent rights,” the complaint said, adding that Amazon has been made aware of the infringing listings but has not taken any action to remove them.

RimBlades also said that the infringing products copy the trade dress of its products, meaning that the products are substantially similar. while being marketed through identical channels of trade.

“Amazon has unlawfully benefited from RimBlades’ goodwill in the marketplace,” said the claim.

It added: “RimBlades has been and continues to be significantly damaged by Amazon’s actions. So long as Amazon continues to perform the unlawful and improper actions described in this complaint, RimBlades will continue to suffer irreparable harm that will not be fully compensable by money damages.”

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