The University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Anthropic in the US District Court for the District of Delaware. According to Reuters, the lawsuit was filed on Monday and became public on Tuesday, marking what appears to be the first known patent infringement lawsuit against Anthropic, one of the leading developers of generative AI models. The university is seeking monetary damages and a court order to prevent Anthropic from further using the disputed technology, as reported by Reuters.
The university's research arm alleged that Anthropic's artificial intelligence models infringe two patents covering machine learning technologies inspired by neuroscience. As reported by Reuters, the patents relate to innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, neuromorphic computing and neuroscience-inspired computing that were developed by professors at the university. The foundation specifically accused Anthropic PBC of infringing US Patent Nos. 10,019,470 and 10,095,718 for improvements in artificial intelligence systems relating to neural networks developed by University of Tennessee researchers. According to the lawsuit, the patents represent significant innovations in artificial intelligence, machine learning, neuromorphic computing and neuroscience-inspired computing, with the technology remaining protected under US patent law. The complaint specifically targets Claude Code and its underlying agentic software architecture, alleging that these products implement patented methods for constructing neuromorphic networks, including a background execution scheduling system and a memory consolidation engine, protected by the '470 patent.
In its complaint, the university criticised Anthropic's approach to intellectual property, stating that its conduct extended beyond the use of copyrighted material. According to Reuters, the university argued that Anthropic's cavalier approach to others' intellectual property rights in the development of its products extends beyond the use of copyrighted material. The university has asked the court to award an unspecified amount in damages and issue an injunction preventing Anthropic from continuing to infringe the patents. The foundation's complaint specifically alleges that Anthropic's alleged disregard for intellectual property extends beyond copyright issues and includes patented AI technologies.
The lawsuit comes shortly after Anthropic secured judicial approval for a major copyright settlement in a separate legal dispute. On Monday, a California federal judge approved the company's $1.5 billion settlement in a class-action copyright lawsuit brought by a group of authors over allegations that their works were used to train Anthropic's AI models without permission. While that case focused on copyright issues, the latest patent lawsuit shifts attention to patent rights, adding another layer to the growing legal scrutiny facing AI developers over the technologies and data used to build their models. According to Reuters, the outcome of this case could become another closely watched legal battle in the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence industry, where disputes over copyrights, patents and intellectual property continue to increase.
