(using new patent law) EFF asks for help defeating podcast patent troll
EFF asks for help defeating podcast patent troll
A 1996 podcasting patent is in the crosshairs of two digital rights groups, which are hoping the public will help them get the patent invalidated.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, partnering with the Cyberlaw Clinic at Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, is asking the public to identify examples of ideas similar to podcasting that were published before Oct. 2, 1996.
A Texas company, Personal Audio, holds a 2012 patent for a system for disseminating media content representing episodes in a serialized sequence and a related 1996 patent for an audio program player including a dynamic program selection controller.
In April, Personal Audio filed lawsuits asserting its podcasting patent against NBC and CBS, and in January, it filed lawsuits against ACE Broadcasting Network, HowStuffWorks.com and TogiEntertainment.
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The EFF and the Cyberlaw Clinic are targeting the patent using a new legal tool for challenging existing patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, called the inter partes review. The new challenge was part of the America Invents Act, passed by Congress in 2011.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2040352/eff-targets-podcasting-patent-for-invalidation.html
