Washington, D.C.—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will urge a federal appeals court at a hearing Thursday to find that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) correctly invalidated key claims of a patent owned by Personal Audio, which had used the patent to threaten podcasters big and small.

EFF is defending a USPTO ruling it won last year in its petition challenging the validity of key claims of Personal Audio’s patent. EFF argued, and the USPTO agreed, that the claimed invention existed before Personal Audio filed its patent application.

Personal Audio maintained that it invented the process of updating a website regularly with new, related content creating a series of episodes—basically podcasting—in 1996. Personal Audio began sending letters to podcasters in 2013, demanding licensing fees from creators such as comedian Adam Carolla and three major television networks. In its challenge to the patent, EFF showed that putting a series of episodes online for everyone to enjoy was not a new idea when the patent application was filed.

Personal Audio asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal District in Washington D.C. to overturn the USPTO ruling. At a hearing on Thursday, EFF's pro bono counsel will ask the court to reject Personal Audio’s argument that the USPTO erred when it invalidated the patent claims.

What: Court hearing in Personal Audio LLC v. Electronic Frontier Foundation

When:  Thursday, August 4, 10 am

Where:  U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
             Courtroom 401, Panel J
             717 Madison Place, N.W.              
             Washington, D.C.  20439

 For more on EFF’s Personal Audio challenge:
https://www.eff.org/cases/eff-v-personal-audio-llc