State Farm Sues Amazon Over Elder-Care Tech in First Patent Suit

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. sued Amazon.com Inc. in its first-ever patent-infringement filing, alleging the tech giant used “an alleged partnership” to take elder-care technologies used in State Farm’s Sundial platform for use in Alexa-enabled devices.

Amazon saw its work with State Farm as “an opportunity to copy” its technologies “and avoid the expensive and time-consuming effort that would have been necessary to develop its own innovations in the elder care space for Alexa,” according to a 169-page complaint filed Thursday in the US District Court for the District of Delaware.

The case targets Amazon’s “engagement and care support ...