Alexa, can Amazon protect itself against the State Farm lawsuit?
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While Alexa might not have the answer to this, we sure do. Stay tuned till the end, and you will too.
Many dream of collaborating with Amazon and not filing a lawsuit against them. Right?
Similarly, State Farm, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, wished to be in the prior category, but as you have read the title, it landed in the later one. In its first-ever lawsuit, State Farm filed an infringement case against Amazon for allegedly copying parts of the former’s Sundial senior healthcare assistance technology.
“Amazon’s blatant, willful infringement creates an unfair playing field and threatens the ability to innovate,” State Farm commented.
With Amazon refraining from commenting on the claims by State Farm, we won’t know their side of the story, but as researchers, we were intrigued to check the strength of the subject patents and if they can survive against this tech giant. As a result, we performed a patent analysis for the subject patents, and guess what?
Well, you do not have to keep guessing. Just read along, and you will know what we found.
How did an insurance company become Amazon’s competitor?
For 100 years, State Farm has been a prominent player in the insurance and financial services industry. What began as a small auto insurance company relying on word-of-mouth referrals has grown into the leading home and auto insurance provider in the United States.
In addition to the above services, State Farm, in an attempt to drive innovation, established its Innovation Team in the early 2010s, which eventually led to the creation of RED Labs in 2017. Through RED Labs, State Farm sought to identify technology solutions to support the care of the elderly.
As a result, the Engagement and Care Support Platform (ECSP) and Sundial were developed in 2018 which are associated with “Senior Living,” the primary goal of which is to allow seniors to live independently and remain in their homes longer. Sundial includes a virtual care hub that provides family members, neighbors, friends, and other caregivers with specific technological functionality allowing them to connect and communicate.
State Farm’s commitment to innovation has been recognized through various patents, including those at the center of the current lawsuit. In this infringement case, the patents involved are US11107581B1, US11114203B1, US11056235B1, US11393585B1, US10825318B1, and US11094180B1 which were granted to State Farm in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
When a collaboration goes awry
State Farm’s strategy after innovating the technology and filing the patent application was to look for collaboration. And Amazon’s Alexa had already gained traction worldwide. The company claimed to have met with Amazon in 2019 and 2020 about adapting Sundial for Alexa-enabled devices. During that time period, Amazon did not have any senior care products. However, the tech giant didn’t collaborate with State Farm.
Cut down to November 2020, Amazon launched its Alexa Care Hub, followed by the Alexa Together subscription service in December 2021.
While these elderly care solutions were designed to be sold in a business-to-business (B2B) environment, Alexa Together targeted the consumer market. This was a great opportunity for Amazon to enter the healthcare sector!
Alexa Together and Alexa Care Hub making headlines for all the right wrong reasons.
If we exclude the claims made by State Farm, Amazon was heading in just the right direction. Blogs like TechCrunch covered this new release of Amazon and described its plans to collaborate with hospitals and care centers.
However, what many didn’t know was that State Farm’s elderly assistance technology – Sundial, was launched in June 2020, prior to Amazon’s Alexa care Hub. Once State Farm realized that Amazon had released not-so-distinctive services in its Alexa, it promptly notified Amazon that its products used their patented technology. Despite this, Amazon may have continued to offer similar services through Alexa, showcasing its innovation and determination to provide top-notch care for its customers.
Within the next six months, Amazon launched a new subscription version of the Alexa Care Hub called “Alexa Together,” which, according to State farm, like the Alexa Care Hub, also infringed State Farm’s patented technology.
In the final attempt to resolve this issue amicably, State Farm informed Amazon that their latest releases infringed on their patents. With Amazon disregarding the notices sent by State Farm, the case landed in the District Court for the District of Delaware on November 3, 2022.
Can Amazon survive the heat of this lawsuit? Dissecting the subject patents
As the lawsuit emerged, we explored the intricacies of the legal showdown between State Farm and Amazon.
And get ready to be stunned! Our patent analysis has uncovered some mind-boggling sources that could call into question the novelty of the subject patents.
From cutting-edge system art to thought-provoking research papers, we spotted multiple red flags that demand attention.
Interested in the analysis? Download the PDF below and know why we say that our findings were nothing short of a revelation.
Analysis performed by: Avantika Sharma
Authored by: Annie Sharma, Editorial Team
