The creators of the torrent client uTorrent will be held accountable for patent infringement.

BitTorrent Inc., the developer of the BitTorrent and uTorrent torrent clients, will face a lawsuit for patent infringement.

The lawsuit alleges that the company is illegally using patents covering file transfer technology owned by California-based Tranz-Send Broadcasting Network.

The patent in question was filed in April 1999. Tranz-Send Broadcasting Network received the patent in November 2007. Tranz-Send Broadcasting Network claims the patent's illegal use has caused the company to lose revenue and is seeking compensation.

The controversial patent, titled "Media file distribution with adaptive transmission protocols," describes a file transfer technology similar to that used in peer-to-peer networks.

In essence, the lawsuit against BitTorrent Inc. is a lawsuit against the developers of all torrent clients.