Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest e-commerce company, has made a big victory in 2021. Accused of using patented inventions for Alexa’s voice commands, Amazon won the trial, defeating Israel-based smart kitchen company, Freshub. This win helps Amazon use voice commands for ordering groceries with its Alexa digital assistant.
According to the federal jury in Waco, Texas, the tech giant did not infringe the three patents alleged by Freshub (IKAN Holdings LLC). Recently, Freshub had alleged Amazon of using its patented inventions that allowed the consumers of this smart kitchen service to create grocery lists. These patents involved programming voice commands and voice recognition used for establishing orders with the shopping cart.
By winning this trial, Amazon proved that the voice commands used by Alexa are developed without any patent infringement. With these commands, Amazon users can ask Alexa to take grocery orders and process them further to the local grocery shop or convenience store. By using these voice commands, millions of Amazon app users can make quick shopping lists with the help of Alexa.
This internet-connected grocery ordering service makes Amazon and its digital assistant Alexa a top favorite in almost every modern-day household. The voice commands are currently incorporated into the Alexa assistant and the Echo smart speakers. Amazon is expected to add these commands on other Echo devices to promote smart grocery ordering with Alexa.
Winning this trial also means relief for Google and Apple, as the Israeli-based company had aimed to extend its patent infringement accusations to other tech giants and their digital assistants. Furthermore, after this win, Amazon may partner with Whole Foods grocery chain and use this application to enter the online food ordering market. This trial is registered as a case – Freshub Inc. v. Amazon.com Inc., at the US District Court in Western District, Texas, under the serial number 21-511.
