Angélique McCall

In part one of this series, I outlined the preliminary steps I took on behalf of my client “Bill” to initiate Amazon’s Neutral Patent Evaluation Process. In part two, I will describe the substantive procedure of the evaluation process and its successful resolution…. Overall, Bill and I were extremely pleased with the speed and efficiency of the evaluation process and delighted with the outcome. Moving forward, Bill requested that my firm monitor Amazon for additional infringing products. Because we have already participated in the Neutral Patent Evaluation Process and obtained a favorable outcome, Bill and I will simply report any future infringers to Amazon without having to initiate the evaluation process for a second time.

You come up with a brilliant idea for an invention, pour your heart and soul into reducing it to practice and spend a great deal of time and money to get a patent. You receive the patent registration certificate, frame it and hang it on your wall. You think, “This is great! I’ve got a patent and now no one can copy my invention!” You form a company and start selling your new product online. A few months later, you log on to your Amazon.com account and see that some seller in some far away country is offering your exact product on amazon.com. Now what? This is the all too familiar story clients often face, and the exact situation one of my clients—we’ll call him Bill—brought to me a few months ago. Luckily, Amazon provides weapons for patent owners like Bill to deploy in order to combat patent infringement on Amazon. Amazon’s latest tool offered to its authorized sellers is called the “Neutral Patent Evaluation Process.” In part one of this series of articles, I will outline the preliminary steps I took to initiate Amazon’s “Neutral Patent Evaluation Process.”