You might recall that I wrote about a patent troll that goes by the name of Personal Audio who were going after prominent podcasters including Adam Carolla to make some money of some rather dubious patents that they hold. Today, the EFF has released news that Carolla he has settled with Personal Audio:
Although the settlement is confidential, we can guess the terms. This is because Personal Audio sent out a press release last month saying it was willing to walk away from its suit with Carolla. So we can assume that Carolla did not pay Personal Audio a penny. We can also assume that, in exchange, Carolla has given up the opportunity to challenge the patent and the chance to get his attorney’s fees. … EFF’s own challenge to Personal Audio’s patent is on a separate track and will continue … with a ruling likely by April 2015. … We hope that Personal Audio’s public statements on this issue mean that it has truly abandoned threatening and suing podcasters. Though a press release might not be legally binding, the company will have a hard time justifying any further litigation (or threats of litigation) against podcasters. Any future targets can point to this statement. Carolla deserves recognition for getting this result.
If this is the case, then this is a very good outcome. I hope that the EFF not only keeps the fight going, but wins against these patent trolls. Or better yet, there’s actual patent reform to stop this sort of thing from happening in the first place.
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This entry was posted on August 19, 2014 at 1:42 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Patents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Adam Carolla Settles With Podcasting Patent Troll
You might recall that I wrote about a patent troll that goes by the name of Personal Audio who were going after prominent podcasters including Adam Carolla to make some money of some rather dubious patents that they hold. Today, the EFF has released news that Carolla he has settled with Personal Audio:
Although the settlement is confidential, we can guess the terms. This is because Personal Audio sent out a press release last month saying it was willing to walk away from its suit with Carolla. So we can assume that Carolla did not pay Personal Audio a penny. We can also assume that, in exchange, Carolla has given up the opportunity to challenge the patent and the chance to get his attorney’s fees. … EFF’s own challenge to Personal Audio’s patent is on a separate track and will continue … with a ruling likely by April 2015. … We hope that Personal Audio’s public statements on this issue mean that it has truly abandoned threatening and suing podcasters. Though a press release might not be legally binding, the company will have a hard time justifying any further litigation (or threats of litigation) against podcasters. Any future targets can point to this statement. Carolla deserves recognition for getting this result.
If this is the case, then this is a very good outcome. I hope that the EFF not only keeps the fight going, but wins against these patent trolls. Or better yet, there’s actual patent reform to stop this sort of thing from happening in the first place.
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This entry was posted on August 19, 2014 at 1:42 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags Patents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.