TikTok sues rival over patent dispute
TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance have sued video app company Triller, requesting that a US court issue a declaratory judgment stating that it did not infringe a patent.
The move comes as ByteDance is negotiating the sale of parts of its TikTok unit in the US in a transaction that could be worth tens of billions of dollars after President Donald Trump moved to ban its US operations, citing national security concerns.
The case, filed at the US District Court of the Northern District of California on Wednesday, 28 October, was in response to Triller’s accusations that the companies infringed its patent, US number 9,691,429, which covers an entertainment platform relating to the creation of music videos synchronised with audio.
In July, Triller claimed that TikTok and ByteDance have infringed its patent through the unauthorised use of its technology for years in a suit filed at the US District Court of the Western District of Texas.
ByteDance and TikTok, however, denied these claims this week, stating they are the only companies based in the US responsible for “developing, providing, and supporting” the disputed products. They held “that Triller’s actions and allegations had created a real and immediate controversy” and had cast “a cloud” over its business operations.
The companies further added that “a judicial declaration is necessary to resolve the real, immediate, and justiciable controversy concerning these issues and to determine the respective rights of the parties”.
In a statement following TikTok’s countersuit, Triller CEO Mike Lu vowed that the company was prepared for a “David and Goliath” style court battle.
“We will not be intimidated and we will not back down. We may be small, but we have right on our side,” he told CNBC.
“We’re not only standing up for Triller; we’re standing up for its investors, its entrepreneurs, its employees, and all US-based businesses who have to deal with this on a daily basis,” he added.
According to TikTok, its social video app has been downloaded around 2 billion times worldwide. In August, it announced that it had 100 million monthly active users in the US and it confirmed that it had achieved the same milestone in Europe last month.
The Chinese company has also moved to challenge the Trump’s administration’s bid to ban TikTok, and has requested that a federal judge bar the proposed government restrictions which will restrict the use of the app in the US. A hearing is scheduled for December 14 at the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington.
In August, TikTok also faced the ire of Texas-based Pixmarx IP, which accused it of infringing three digital photography patents.
WIPR has approached TikTok and Triller for comment.
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