Spotify Hit With Patent Lawsuit

Music-streaming service Spotify, which launched in the U.S. just weeks ago, was today cited in a patent infringement suit, as litigation spreads to the music streaming industry.

San Diego-based PacketVideo filed a suit in the U.S. and Europe against Spotify over its cloud-based music service, after earlier, reportedly unsuccessful talks to broker a licensing agreement with the Swedish company. PacketVideo is seeking an injunction and damages.

"PacketVideo has a strong intellectual property portfolio and will take any necessary action needed to protect its intellectual property and prevent misuse of its patents," according to a statement issued by Joel Epstein, general counsel for PacketVideo.

PacketVideo's patents date back to the mid-1990s but were added to its portfolio when the company bought Switzerland-based SDC AG in 2007. The consensus is that the wording on the patent, which covers a "device for the distribution of music in digital form," is very broad.

Spotify has 10 million users worldwide and strongly contests the claim, saying its hybrid technology incorporates peer-to-peer technology.

"The result is what we humbly believe to be a better music experience," according to Spotify. "Packetvideo is claiming that by distributing music over the Internet, Spotify (and by inference any other similar digital music service) has infringed one of the patents that has previously been acquired by Packetvideo."

The filing may foreshadow increasing patent disputes in the music streaming business, similar to the pattern litigation is setting in the handset market, as epitomized by the war between Apple and Samsung over patents involving handset designs, which began earlier this year.

And, last month's bankruptcy auction of 6,000 of Nortel Network's patents may fuel a flare-up of future patent battles over operating software down the road. Google, maker of the Android OS, was frozen out of the final bid, which went to a group mostly consisting of its competitors.

Packetvideo's lawsuit with Spotify may or may not extend to others in the music streaming business, but its filing may portend an industry-wide trend toward patent battles.

Spotify Hit With Patent Lawsuit originally appeared at Mobiledia on Fri Jul 29, 2011 1:22 pm.

Source: http://www.mobiledia.com/news/100536.html

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