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Scott Nyman

Recently, my sister told me about a new music player (at least to the US), Spotify. Apparently, this social, music streaming application has gained a large following in the European countries. The feature that sets Spotify apart from other media players is the ability to stream songs from the playlists of your friends and other various internet sources at no direct cost to the user. So, with the recommendation from my sister, and the desire to use a music player that is a little lighter than 80MB of sloppy code it takes to download iTunes (I wouldn’t be shocked if iTunes 11 turns out to be a 4.5GB download), I took the plunge into Spotify.

So, how is Spotify? At first glance, the interface resembles iTunes enough to be familiar. However, the interface also differs enough that you know you’re not using Apple’s media playing application. There is one major distinction, however. Spotify has ads. These ads are displayed in the interface, interjected between any music you stream, and are annoying. To be fair to Spotify, you can eliminate these ads with a monthly payment.

The key feature of Spotify is the ability to stream and listen to music that is not in your library. This is the first piece of software that I’ve encountered that provides an easy-to-use interface to accomplish this task. However, PacketVideo, owner of U.S. Patent No. 5,636,276, titled “A DEVICE FOR THE DISTRIBUTION OF MUSIC INFORMATION IN DIGITAL FORM,” believes they have seen this before. PacketVideo has demonstrated this by filing a complaint, alleging patent infringement, with the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. The full complaint and related patent can be found here.

After a brief review of the patent (and I mean brief), the claims seem to be broad and the specification appears to be light. Of course, Spotify’s defense will allege the classics: 1) Spotify does not infringe the patent, and 2) the patent is invalid, and thus can’t be infringed. From my brief look at the patent, I believe the second argument will be the stronger argument, potentially resulting in PacketVideo losing at least some of the scope covered by their patent. However, if I were a betting man, I’d predict that this case goes away in the form of a nuisance settlement, for an undisclosed amount less than the cost to defend against this claim. This is probably wise for Spotify, since they’re going to be spending a whole lot more after Apple initiates suit against Spotify alleging infringement. (I’m calling it now!)

I have pasted the first, and only, independent claim for the ‘276 patent below. Take a look!

A device for the distribution of music information comprising:

a central memory device which is connected to a communications network and has a databank of digitized music information and, a terminal which is connected to the central memory device via the communications network, the central memory device being equipped with a retrieval module and the said modules having the capability to interact via the communications network in order to order and transmit selectively chosen music information, wherein the selectively chosen music information is organized with a defined format for transmission in a digital music information object, the format including a core and a number of additional layers, the core including at least one object identification code, object structure information, a consumer code and an encryption table and the one or more additional layers including the actual music information, wherein the central memory device has an encryption module for encryption of the music information object before transmission using the encryption table, and

wherein the terminal has a decryption module for decryption of the music information object before its reproduction using the encryption table, an interpretation module for interpretation and reproduction conditioning of the music information object as well as an authorization device having identification information for identification of the terminal and of the consumer which is retrievable by the interpretation module and by the decryption module for authorization checking.