CBS and NBC Sued in Podcasting Patent Infringement Cases

Both CBS Corp. and NBC Universal Media LLC were sued in separate Texas federal court actions by Personal Audio LLC, a Beaumont, Texas company who claims to be "pioneers in playlists and podcasting." The lawsuits stem from claims by Personal Audio that CBS and NBS are infringing on one of its five patents, U.S. Patent No. 8,112,504 B2. The patent at issue covers transmission of audio programming through the internet.

Personal Audio feels that the audio versions of television shows podcast by CBS and NBC infringe its patent. Specifically, Personal Audio is alleging that the CBS podcasts for news programming such as 60 Minutes, CBS Evening News and Face the Nation infringe its patent. NBC podcasts alleged to be infringing include the Nightly News with Brian Williams, The Rachel Maddow Show, and Meet the Press.

Personal Audio's patent covers "an audio program and message distribution system in which a host system transmits information regarding episodes to client subscriber locations". It is alleging that both CBS and NBC are using software and hardware such as servers and data storage in a manner that directly infringes its patent.

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(Intellectual Property News.com)

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