{"id":2700,"date":"2014-04-01T12:34:01","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T12:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncjolt.org\/?p=2700"},"modified":"2020-06-04T20:53:43","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T20:53:43","slug":"ace-broadcastings-stand-against-podcast-patent-troll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/blogs\/ace-broadcastings-stand-against-podcast-patent-troll\/","title":{"rendered":"ACE Broadcasting\u2019s stand against Podcast Patent Troll"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adam Carolla is a well-known media personality.\u00a0 Known for his brash\u2014and often crude\u2014brand of humor, he originally made a name for himself on MTV\u2019s \u201cLoveline\u201d and Comedy Central\u2019s \u201cThe Man Show\u201d alongside Dr. Drew and Jimmy Kimmel, respectively.\u00a0 After leaving more conventional media platforms behind, Carolla was one of the pioneers of Podcasting.\u00a0 A Podcast is a digital medium<\/a> consisting of an episodic series of audio<\/a>, video<\/a>, PDF<\/a>, or ePub<\/a> files<\/a> subscribed to and downloaded<\/a> through web syndication<\/a> or streamed online to a computer or mobile device. The word is a neologism<\/a> and portmanteau<\/a> derived from “broadcast” and “pod” from the success of the iPod<\/a>, as audio podcasts are often listened to on portable media players<\/a>.
\nCarolla is not known for moderation.\u00a0 His penchant for epic rants<\/a> enabled him to quickly climb to the top of Apple\u2019s iTunes download list as the most frequently downloaded Podcast.\u00a0 Accordingly, Carolla chose to forego the normal course of settling patent litigation when faced with a suit brought by Personal Audio.\u00a0 He believes, likely accurately, that the pending suit against him may be only the first of a series involving Personal Audio.\u00a0 He has stated, “They’ll just find the top 100 most popular podcasts on iTunes. They’ll start with me and just work down the line.”
\nPersonal Audio is a non-practicing entity (a “patent troll”).\u00a0 It was founded in the 1990s by James Logan to produce customized analogue cassette tapes with current news. \u00a0Logan ran the firm until it went bankrupt in 1998.\u00a0 It holds a patent issued in 2012 that covers, according to Logan, the production of serialized or episodic content that can be downloaded from a specific URL that client software can retrieve and store\u2014effectively the definition of a podcast.\u00a0 Mr. Logan summarized his position as, \u201c[W]e are deserving of the rewards from having spent all that time and money back then inventing that stuff and patenting it.”
\nPatent defenses are inherently expensive prospects.\u00a0 Mr. Carolla estimates his legal fees may exceed $1.5 million. \u00a0He has launched a crowd sourcing campaign, which has currently raised close to $200,000, to help fund his defense. \u00a0Meanwhile, non-practicing entities\u2014like Personal Audio\u2014typically have a war chest of funds, often won from other suits, to create an asymmetrical benefit.\u00a0 Moreover, the plaintiffs often enjoy an economy of scale in litigation fees and services because patent trolling firms are sometimes founded by lawyers or in a partnership with lawyers.\u00a0 Lastly, plaintiffs aren’t required to provide a standard fee sheet to those from whom it might demand payments.<\/p>\n

The outcome of this case could present broad implications for patents, generally, and dictate the future of Podcasting, specifically.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The firm\u2019s podcast lawsuit was filed in 2009.\u00a0 The filing contained a description of podcasting as an outcome of the main portion of an earlier 1996 patent, which remained unchanged.\u00a0 Notably, Personal Audio headquartered its operations in a district of Eastern Texas known to be favorable to patent plaintiffs.\u00a0 Plaintiffs prevail nearly 60% of the time<\/a> in the Eastern Texas venue, compared to just over 30% across all jurisdictions, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report. So-called non-practicing entities like Personal Audio prevail 47% of the time in the Eastern District of Texas compared with 24% of cases tried overall.
\nIt is unlikely that any decision in this matter will come quickly.\u00a0 Whatever the merits of Personal Audio\u2019s claims, they undoubtedly fit the definition of \u201cpatent troll,\u201d or an entity formed for the basis of prosecuting patent lawsuits and licensing without manufacturing products or services.\u00a0 In light of the Obama Administration\u2019s efforts<\/a> to clamp down on such entities, the outcome of this case could present broad implications for patents generally.\u00a0 Moreover, the case will likely dictate the future of Podcasting, specifically. \u00a0\u00a0As such, Mr. Carolla\u2019s efforts to fight patent trolling are worth watching.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Adam Carolla is a well-known media personality.\u00a0 Known for his brash\u2014and often crude\u2014brand of humor, he originally made a name for himself on MTV\u2019s \u201cLoveline\u201d and Comedy Central\u2019s \u201cThe Man Show\u201d alongside Dr. Drew and Jimmy Kimmel, respectively.\u00a0 After leaving more conventional media platforms behind, Carolla was one of the pioneers of Podcasting.\u00a0 A Podcast …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[51],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7477,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2700\/revisions\/7477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}