When you're listening to your favorite podcast — This American Life, maybe, or Radiolab — patents are probably the last thing on your mind. But behind the scenes, the podcasting world has been living in fear of one particular patent that threatens to force many independent producers out of business.
Now, a government board has revoked key parts of that patent, handing a huge victory to podcasters.
The decision makes it a lot harder for producers to be hit with aggressive infringement lawsuits. The company that owns the patent in question, Personal Audio, says it invented podcasting. In 2013, it began going around to podcast-makers, threatening to take them to court unless they paid a licensing fee. Among those affected? TV personality and comedian Adam Carolla, who ultimately settled with Personal Audio but not before spending more than $650,000 defending himself.
"We’re glad the Patent Office recognized what we all knew: ‘podcasting’ had been around for many years and this company does not own it," said Daniel Nazer, an attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which called for the patent's invalidation.
More: www.washingtonpost.com
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