Why TikTok’s Parent Company Is Suing Triller

Social media platform TikTok and its Chinese parent company filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court Wednesday challenging a patent infringement suit filed by rival Triller in July.

The duo filed their case in a San Francisco federal court, countering Triller’s lawsuit alleging patent infringement. Triller in its July lawsuit claimed TikTok and ByteDance had been stealing its technology and cribbing off its patent for years.

The Bloomberg news agency reported that ByteDance in its challenge argued neither its products nor its users are infringing on any patents, nor are they liable for any sort of damages.

Triller's lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Texas, says it owns a June 2017 patent given to Brooklyn-based Mibblio Inc., which deals with ways to make music videos synced to an audio track. ByteDance countered that it’s not following any of the steps outlined in that patent.

None of the companies issued statements to reporting agencies Bloomberg or CNBC. There were no public statements on the cases published by any of the companies involved.

Separately, ByteDance is in talks to sell off parts of TikTok after President Donald Trump tried to ban the popular service, citing national security concerns related to its ties to the Chinese government.

Legal counsel for TikTok argued Trump’s effort to ban the platform was part of a campaign tool meant to capitalize on the president’s disdain for China.

"It would be no different than the government locking the doors to a public forum, roping off that town square," TikTok lawyer John Hall said last month. With its 100 million users in the United States, Hall argued that TikTok is a "modern day version of the town square" and shutting it down is an assault on free speech.

A federal judge last month issued an order temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s effort to ban TikTok from U.S. platforms. The argument is scheduled in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington on Dec. 14.