BitTorrent sued again: Does BT software infringe patents?

Media company Tranz-Send Broadcasting Network has sued BitTorrent Inc., the makers of uTorrent and the BitTorrent Mainline client, for infringement of a file-sharing related patent. According to the complaint, the technology of BitTorrent software infringes the rights of Tranz-Send. The company demands compensation and if the court agrees, this case could cost BitTorrent users dearly.

BitTorrent has been involved in many lawsuits dealing with the question whether using BT-software for sharing copyright protected content is unlawful towards copyright holders. However, this case may even be more fundamental to BT, as Tranz-Send claims BitTorrent-technology is in itself an infringement of intellectual property rights.

Tranz-Send Broadcasting Network filed a complaint at the court this week, stating: “By making, operating, using and/or selling [uTorrent and BitTorrent Mainline] and or other software, BitTorrent has infringed and continues to infringe, contribute to the infringement, or induce the infringement of at least claim 1 of the ’7.301.944 patent.” The company claims to have suffered significant losses and wants to be compensated for the ongoing patent infringement.

The patent in question was granted in 2007 (filed in 1999) and is about a file-sharing system consisting of a file database, a transfer client and a distribution server. It is now up to the District Court judges to decide whether this patent has anything to do with BitTorrent’s filesharing systems. In any case, Tranz-Send Broadcasting Network is convinced their patent is in jeopardy and have also sued other companies on similar grounds.

Critics accuse Tranz-Send of patent trolling: it is said the company is not intending to use or market the protected invention themselves, but tries to monetise the patent through opportunistic lawsuits. Together, the two BitTorrent clients mentioned in the lawsuit have a user-base of more than 100 million users worldwide. If they are suddenly required to pay royalties for each and every P2P-download, this will drastically impact the company’s operations. It will also drastically improve the bank balance of Tranz-Send Broadcasting…

References: TorrentFreak; US Patent 7301944