State Farm sues Amazon over technology aimed at helping senior citizens

Delaware (25 News Now) - State Farm Insurance company is suing Amazon for patent infringement.

The Bloomington headquartered insurance company is accusing Amazon of taking their technology that they were working on together at one point, to help senior citizens live easier in their own homes.

The technology would allow electronics of seniors to be connected and monitored by family or caregivers. With voice commands, a user could check in, call for help, and beyond. With that, State Farm is accusing Amazon of watching this technology being developed and copying it for their own project.

In the documents, it states State Farm started working on the innovations in 2019 with the intentions of adapting it’s Sundial application to Amazon’s Alexa-enabled devices. The documents also state that Amazon held regular meetings with the insurance company and watched the production closely.

“In September 2020, just over two months after State Farm publicly launched its Sundial product, Amazon began promoting it’s Alexa ‘Care Club’ product.”

Both aimed for helping seniors live more independently.

In the more than 100 page lawsuit, State Farm lays out the similarities in apps created by both parties and the timeline that lead up to this.

The lawsuit filed in Delaware hopes to stop Amazon from alleged improper use of patented technologies.