Amazon prevails in Kindle tech patent dispute
Jury dismissed allegations that Amazon Music’s X-Ray Lyrics and Kindle’s Audible Immersion Reading were infringing | Suit targeted a host of Amazon products.
Amazon has been handed a victory by a US federal jury in a long-running feud related to technology used in the e-commerce giant’s music and audible services, including its Kindle devices.
On Tuesday, September 19, the US District Court for the US District of Delaware ruled that the accused products did not infringe a patent, that “the asserted claims were anticipated by three separate prior art references”, and “were also directed to subject matter that was well-known, routine, and conventional”.
The dispute emerged in 2018 when the non-practising entity sued Amazon asserting that two patents, US numbers 8,856,638 and 8,862,978—generally related to synchronising text transcripts with video depositions—had been infringed.
TrackTime argued that Amazon has used patented technology, without authorisation, in a host of products and apps, including Amazon Prime, Amazon Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, Audible Audiobooks, Kindle eBooks, Amazon Kindle Unlimited, and various a la carte e-book and audiobook sales.
Amended complaint
Judge Maryellen Noreika of the District of Delaware granted a motion to dismiss and held the patents patent-ineligible, but TrackTime later filed an amended complaint making additional allegations related to patent eligibility. The court subsequently issued a claim construction order invalidating one of the asserted patents in 2021.
TrackTime then argued that features within Amazon Music’s ‘X-Ray Lyrics’ and Kindle’s ‘ Audible Immersion Reading’—allowing users to read an ebook and listen to its audiobook version simultaneously—infringed upon the remaining patent.
A trial on the remaining patent began September 5, and the jury found for Amazon this week. Amazon was represented by litigation partners David Hadden, Saina Shamilov, Ravi Ranganath, Todd Gregorian and Melanie Mayer from Fenwick Law.
