Amazon.com 2013 Annual Report Download - page 69

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In August 2012, an Australian quasi-government entity named Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organization filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
The complaint alleges, among other things, that the sale of “products which are operable according to the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) 802.11a, g, n, and/or draft n standards” infringe U.S. Patent No. 5,487,069, entitled
“Wireless LAN.” The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages, enhanced damages, attorneys’ fees, and injunctive
relief. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.
In November 2012, Lexington Luminance LLC filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon Digital
Services, Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The complaint alleges, among other things,
that certain light-emitting diodes in certain Kindle devices infringe U.S. Patent No. 6,936,851, entitled “Semiconductor Light-
Emitting Device And Method For Manufacturing Same.” The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages and an
injunction or, in the absence of an injunction, a compulsory ongoing royalty. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and
intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.
In May 2013, Adaptix, Inc. filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Texas. The complaint alleges, among other things, that certain Kindle devices infringe U.S. Patent Nos. 7,454,212
and 6,947,748, both entitled “OFDMA With Adaptive Subcarrier-Cluster Configuration And Selective Loading.” The complaint
seeks an unspecified amount of damages, interest, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees. We dispute the allegations of
wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.
In July 2013, Telebuyer, LLC filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc., Amazon Web Services, LLC, and VADATA,
Inc. in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The complaint alleges, among other things, that
certain features used on our retail website-including high resolution video and still images, user-indicated areas of interest,
targeted follow-up communications, vendor proposals, on-line chat, Gold Box and Lightning Deals, and vendor ratings-infringe
seven U.S. patents: Nos. 6,323,894, 7,835,508, 7,835,509, 7,839,984, 8,059,796, and 8,098,272, all entitled “Commercial
Product Routing System With Video Vending Capability,” and 8,315,364, entitled “Commercial Product Routing System With
Mobile Wireless And Video Vending Capability.” The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages, interest, and
injunctive relief. In September 2013, the case was transferred to the United States District Court for the Western District of
Washington. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.
In August 2013, Cellular Communications Equipment, LLC filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. in the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleges, among other things, that certain Kindle devices
infringe U.S. Patent Nos.: 6,819,923, entitled “Method For Communication Of Neighbor Cell Information”; 7,215,962, entitled
“Method For An Intersystem Connection Handover”; 7,941,174, entitled “Method For Multicode Transmission By A
Subscriber Station”; and 8,055,820, entitled “Apparatus, System, And Method For Designating A Buffer Status Reporting
Format Based On Detected Pre-Selected Buffer Conditions.” The complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages and
interest. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.
Beginning in August 2013, a number of complaints were filed alleging, among other things, that Amazon.com, Inc. and
several of its subsidiaries failed to compensate hourly workers for time spent waiting in security lines and otherwise violated
federal and state wage and hour statutes and common law. In August 2013, Busk v. Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. and
Amazon.com, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, and Vance v. Amazon.com, Inc.,
Zappos.com Inc., another affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc., and Kelly Services, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court
for the Western District of Kentucky. In September 2013, Allison v. Amazon.com, Inc. and Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc.
was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, and Johnson v. Amazon.com, Inc. and an
affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc. was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. In October
2013, Davis v. Amazon.com, Inc., an affiliate of Amazon.com, Inc., and Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc. was filed in the
United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. The plaintiffs variously purport to represent a nationwide
class of certain current and former employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act and/or state-law-based subclasses for certain
current and former employees in states including Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Kentucky, and Nevada,
and one complaint asserts nationwide breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims. The complaints seek an unspecified
amount of damages, interest, injunctive relief, and attorneys’ fees. We have been named in several other similar cases. We
dispute the allegations of wrongdoing and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in these matters.
In September 2013, Personalized Media Communications, LLC filed a complaint against Amazon.com, Inc. and Amazon
Web Services, LLC in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. The complaint alleges, among other things,
that the use of certain Kindle devices, Kindle apps and/or Amazon.com, Inc.’s website to purchase and receive electronic media
infringes nine U.S. Patents: Nos. 5,887,243, 7,801,304, 7,805,749, 7,940,931, 7,769,170, 7,864,956, 7,827,587, 8,046,791, and
7,883,252, all entitled “Signal Processing Apparatus And Methods.” The complaint also alleges, among other things, that
CloudFront, S3, and EC2 web services infringe three of those patents, Nos. 7,801,304, 7,864,956, and 7,827,587. The
complaint seeks an unspecified amount of damages, interest, and injunctive relief. We dispute the allegations of wrongdoing
and intend to defend ourselves vigorously in this matter.