Spotify gets served patent infringement lawsuit by PacketVideo

When Spotify was first announced it made waves as many had claimed it would give iTunes a run for their money, and when Spotify announced that they were coming to the US that caused and even bigger stir with many users eager to try out the new music service. As it turns out less than a month into their US launch, Spotify has been slapped with a patent infringement lawsuit by PacketVideo.

With so many patents available out there it’s really hard to be original these days or put out a product without accidentally stepping on someone else’s toes. The patent that PacketVideo is claiming Spotify infringed upon is described as “Device for the distribution of music information in digital form.” It’s actually a pretty old patent that was filed in the 90’s that was recently purchased by PacketVideo a few years ago.

According to Spotify’s representatives:

“In just under three years, Spotify has become more popular than any other music service of its kind. This success is, in large part, due to our own highly innovative, proprietary hybrid technology that incorporates peer-to-peer technology. The result is what we humbly believe to be a better music experience – lightning fast, dead simple and really social.”

Basically what PacketVideo is claiming that by distributing music over the Internet, Spotify (and just about every other digital music service) has infringed upon one of their patents. Spotify is strongly contesting PacketVideo’s claim.

What do you guys think? Is this another case of a patent troll or is this a legitimate claim?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Audio
Tags: iTunes, lawsuit, patent infringement, Spotify