Patent Experts Needed For Amazon Smartphone – Report

Amazon is reportedly recruiting intellectual property experts with a view to acquiring and licensing patents.

The online retailer has hired recruiting firm Argos Search in a move that is being seen as a sign the company is expanding its mobile operations.

Amazon launched its first tablet, the Kindle Fire, in the US last year to great success, selling millions during the Christmas period.

Amazon smartphone

Reuters says that the company is looking for an “acquisition and investment leader” capable of identifying and evaluating strategic IP acquisition and licensing opportunities. The candidate will apparently work closely with all of Amazon’s technology teams and leaders on future product development.

“At Amazon we are rapidly growing in many new and exciting technology areas,” reads the job advert. “To support and protect our expansion we are seeking an executive to work with our business teams to identify and procure intellectual property.”

The job ad suggests that Amazon is seeking to acquire access to more patents ahead of a future mobile product launch. Most of Amazon’s patents relate to e-commerce, not mobile devices, and the company appears keen not to become embroiled in any patent war like the one that Samsung and Apple are currently engaged in.

Rumours of an Amazon smartphone have persisted since the successful launch of the Kindle Fire and have intensified in recent months, with Foxconn among the suppliers reportedly involved in the project. The company has also acquired mapping startup UpNext, possibly to use its mapping technology in a smartphone or the next iteration of the Kindle Fire.

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