The University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Anthropic, accusing the Claude AI developer of using its patented neural network technology without permission.
The case was filed on Monday in the US District Court for the District of Delaware and made public on Tuesday. UTRF, the nonprofit organisation responsible for licensing the University of Tennessee’s intellectual property, claims Anthropic’s AI systems infringe two patents covering neuroscience-inspired machine learning technology.
The foundation said the patents represent important advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, neuromorphic computing and neuroscience-inspired computing. They were developed by professors at the University of Tennessee.
According to the complaint, Anthropic’s AI models make use of technology protected under the two patents, identified as US Patent No. 10,019,470 and US Patent No. 10,095,718.
The lawsuit seeks financial damages and a court order preventing Anthropic from continuing to use the patented technology without authorisation.
In the complaint, the foundation said: “Anthropic’s cavalier approach to others’ intellectual property rights in the development of its products extends beyond the use of copyrighted material.”
Anthropic rejected the allegations.
“We disagree with the allegations and intend to defend this case vigorously,” a company spokesperson said.
Representatives of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
The lawsuit is believed to be the first patent infringement case brought against Anthropic. It also comes a day after a California federal judge approved the company’s $1.5 billion settlement in a class action copyright lawsuit filed by a group of authors over the use of their books to train AI models.
Anthropic, which develops the Claude family of AI assistants, has been one of the fastest-growing AI companies, backed by major investors including Google and Amazon.
