A patent troll that claims that its failed 1990 cassettes-by-mail business is the same thing as podcasting got cut off at the knees today when the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) invalided its bogus claims.

Over one thousand people (myself included) donated to the EFF's Save Podcasting campaign to defeat the troll.

The "podcasting patent" became big news in 2013, when a company called Personal Audio, LLC, began demanding licensing fees from podcasters including comedian Adam Carolla and three major television networks. Personal Audio doesn't do podcasting itself, but instead used its patent to claim infringement and collect payouts from actual creators. In petitions filed with Patent Office, EFF showed that Personal Audio did not invent anything new before it filed its patent application, and, in fact, other people were podcasting for years previously. Earlier examples of podcasting include Internet pioneer Carl Malamud's "Geek of the Week" online radio show and online broadcasts by CNN and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

Personal Audio claimed to have invented podcasting, but the EFF convinced the USPTO that this was not the case:

In petitions filed with Patent Office, EFF showed that Personal Audio did not invent anything new before it filed its patent application, and, in fact, other people were podcasting for years previously. Earlier examples of podcasting include Internet pioneer Carl Malamud's "Geek of the Week" online radio show and online broadcasts by CNN and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).

I hope the podcasters who were bilked by Personal Audio get their money back.

Here's a link to the full decision.

CC Image: Kamil Antosiewicz Monika Powalisz