Amazon sued by Universal Electronics for infringing smart-device patents

By Blake Brittain

Aug 6 (Reuters) - Remote control and smart-home technology company Universal Electronics Inc UEIC.O sued Amazon AMZN.O in California federal court on Thursday, accusing the e-commerce giant's Echo smart speakers, Fire TV streaming devices and other products of infringing its patents.

• UEI alleged in the complaint that Amazon's devices — as well as its apps for its voice assistant Alexa and streaming service Prime Video — infringe five patents related to remote-control technology for several different types of smart products and appliances.

• Scottsdale, Arizona-based UEI asked the court for an unspecified amount of monetary damages and an order blocking Amazon from infringing its patents.

• Spokespeople for Amazon and UEI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the complaint.

• Amazon has faced several U.S. patent lawsuits over its Alexa technology. A jury in Delaware determined in 2023 that the company owed patent owner VB Assets $46.7 million for infringing patents related to speech recognition and natural language processing.

The UEI case is Universal Electronics Inc v. Amazon.com Inc, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No. 8:26-cv-02117.

For UEI: David Stein of Olson Stein, Stefan Szpajda of Folio Law Group

For Amazon: attorney information not yet available

(Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington)