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Voip-Pal.com Files Patent Infringement Case Against Amazon Alexa

June 26, 2018
By Paula Bernier, Executive Editor, TMC

Voip-Pal.com Inc. is going after Amazon.

The company says the online giant’s Amazon Alexa calling and messaging system relies on Voip-Pal patented technologies to direct voice/video calls and voice messages to Amazon subscribers and non-subscribers. In so doing, Voip-Pal claims, Amazon is infringing its patents. So Voip-Pal.com has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Amazon in U.S. District Court (Nevada).


“Amazon’s foray into communications seems to be part of a larger trend of giant corporations battling for market dominance by offering Internet-based communication products that integrate with traditional telephony networks,” Voip-Pal CEO Emil Malak said. “Fourteen years ago Voip-Pal’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Digifonica, began developing, inventing, and patenting many of the same communication methods that are now being employed by today’s Internet giants.”

Voip-Pal.com is a publicly traded business out of Bellevue, Wash. It has been  referred to as a patent troll in multiple reports. But Malak has argued against that categorization, saying the company is an inventor.

And in the company’s recent press release about the Amazon case, Malak also said: “Our patents have more than nine years term remaining during which time others cannot lawfully use our patented technologies without a license. Our preference has always been to avoid litigation. However, given the unresponsiveness of corporate giants in licensing our patents, we feel our best option is to seek fair compensation for the use of our intellectual property through the courts. If we are unable to reach an amicable settlement with Amazon and the other companies with which we are already engaged in legal actions – Apple, AT&T, Verizon (News - Alert) and Twitter – we are prepared to stay the course until we have monetized our patents.”

The complaint again Amazon has to do with U.S. Patents 9,537,762; 9,813,330; 9,826,002; and 9,948,549. Voip-Pal.com in May filed similar patent claims against Apple (News - Alert).

Amazon’s Alexa calling and messaging services work with Amazon communication devices including Echo devices, and certain Amazon Fire, Android (News - Alert) and Apple iOS devices. In announcing its complaint against Amazon, Voip-Pal.com referenced a Washington Post report from September saying Amazon has sold “tens of millions of Alexa-enabled devices.”




Edited by Maurice Nagle

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