On September 1, 2026, BTF IP Holdings LLC, a Texas LLC, sued Eleven Labs Inc. in the Southern District of New York, No. 1:26-cv-07481. The complaint is on RECAP. It asserts a single patent, U.S. Patent 11,521,593, titled "Method of Embodying Online Media Service Having Multiple Voice Systems," issued December 6, 2022. Eleven Labs is pleaded as a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business in New York. No judge appears on the public docket yet. A jury is demanded.

What is accused

Count I alleges direct, induced, and contributory infringement of at least claim 1. The accused service is Eleven Labs' voice generation platform: text-to-speech, Studio (including URL import of articles), Voice Library and cloning, dubbing "across 90+ languages," Sound Effects, and related products named as ElevenCreative, ElevenAgents, ElevenAPI, and Reception.ai. The complaint maps claim 1's "online store" language to the Voice Library and paid plans, and maps background-sound limitations to Studio Sound Effects. There is no declaratory-judgment count and no second patent.

The alleged invention

As pleaded, the '593 patent covers methods of converting online media-site content into speech using a specific person's voice (a subscriber voice or a pre-stored voice), converting that voice into a selected country's language, and outputting the content as speech with background sounds while displayed on a personal terminal. Those are the patentee's characterizations in the complaint, not findings.

Relief sought

BTF alleges it notified Eleven Labs of the patent at least as early as July 2026 and that continued infringement is willful. The prayer seeks damages, including up to treble damages under 35 U.S.C. 284, a permanent injunction, and exceptional-case fees under section 285. Counsel of record is Douglas E. Chin of Hsuanyeh Law Group, PC (Boston).

What it means in practice

This is an early, single-patent AI-voice filing in New York against a named TTS vendor, with a willfulness hook from alleged pre-suit notice. It is an allegation document. Validity, claim construction, and whether Studio/Voice Library practice claim 1 are untested. The complaint is free on RECAP, so the claim chart is public.

What to watch next

Judge assignment, service, and whether Eleven Labs answers, moves to dismiss (including section 101), or petitions for IPR. Any parallel suits on the '593 patent would change the campaign picture; none are alleged in this complaint.