Amazon Web Services (AWS) is determined by a US jury to have infringed upon patent rights in computer networking and broadcasting technology and are now responsible for $30.5 million in damages to the patent’s owner.
The patent owner in question is Acceleration Bay LLC, an ‘incubator and investor’ company based in San Francisco. Acceleration Bay claims to be backed by strong intellectual property protection and has accused Amazon of infringing upon not one, but two patents held by the company.
The concerning technologies are Amazon’s Cloudfront content delivery system and Virtual Private Cloud virtual network. The patents were originally held by Boeing, however Acceleration Bay acquired the rights more than a decade ago.
The infringed patents are designed for similar purposes, mostly to improve content delivery and access speed across a formed network.
The US jury has yet to decide on a final number to be paid in damages to Acceleration Bay as the court has determined willful infringement of the patents by Amazon. Total damages to be paid, including the verdict of willful infringement, would bring the approximate number close to $100 million – three times of the original fine served to Amazon.
Acceleration Bay initiated patent lawsuits not only against Amazon, but also video game holding company Activision Blizzard for infringing upon one of the same patents as Amazon. Patents for networking and broadcasting found in Activision Blizzard’s most popular games such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty were cited to be rightfully belonging to Acceleration Bay.
Activision Blizzard paid $23.4 million in the settlement with Acceleration Bay.
Patent infringement accusations are not unfamiliar to Amazon. In 2024, the company was accused of violating the patent technology rights of tech company Kove, resulting in $525 million damages paid.
