CBS Captures Win in Podcasting Patent Infringement Squabble
Written January 22, 2020
CBS Corp. won’t have to pay a $1.3 million infringement award because a podcasting patent was invalidated by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the Federal Circuit said on January 10, 2020. Personal Audio LLC v. CBS Corp., Fed. Cir., No. 18-2256, 1/10/20.
Personal Audio filed several patent infringement suits against several podcast producers for infringement of US Patent No. 8,112,504, which covers a system for organizing audio files. The Eastern District of Texas found CBS infringed the patent, but put the infringement award on hold while the PTAB heard arguments over the patent’s validity.
The PTAB found the patent invalid, and the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision in 2017. Personal Audio says the board, by issuing its final decisions, violated the Seventh Amendment by reexamining jury findings, a point that it mentioned in district court. But the Federal Circuit said Congress gave it exclusive jurisdiction to hear appeals of PTAB decisions.