Invalidity dossier
US 8108378
Podcast search engine
Current assignee: Google LLC
Added 9/21/2026, 9:24:48 AM
Active provider: DeepSeek · deepseek-flash
Patent summary
Title, assignee, inventors, filing/issue dates, abstract, and a plain-language overview of the claims.
Patent Overview — US8108378B2
Title: Podcast search engine
Patent number / application: US8108378B2; Application US11/346,777
Assignee / inventor: Original assignee Yahoo Inc. (assignment recorded 2006-02-02); later assignments to Google Inc. (2014-09-30) and Google LLC (2017-10-02, change of name). Inventors: Edward Stanley Ott, IV; Nathanael Joe Hayashi; Matt Fukuda.
Key dates (as listed, without independent verification): Priority date 2005-09-30; filed 2006-02-02; published as US20070078884A1 on 2007-04-05; granted 2012-01-31; status Active with adjusted expiration listed 2026-11-05.
Purpose: Podcasting's growth created problems for consumers trying to "find podcasts," organize subscriptions, and listen efficiently, and for publishers seeking to market podcasts and manage bandwidth and storage costs. The patent addresses subscribing to podcast feeds "from a single location" via a server-based search engine.
Plain-language scope: A server-based search engine searches data about podcasts and their constituent episodes. Results are stored in a local feed database and periodically updated; stored results include "most or all of the searchable descriptive information provided by the podcast," including episode information. The engine receives user search requests, matches both podcasts and episodes, and displays them (exemplary interfaces include results limited to series). One described method is "adaptively searching" podcasts and episodes: a set of podcasts is identified, each podcast and episode may be associated with a tag, and that association "may be done repeatedly by different consumers." Results can include recommendations based on tags matching search criteria. The excerpt also describes RSS feeds, aggregators, and podcasting generally as background.
Not established by this excerpt: The full claims and their precise metes and bounds; the complete description and drawing contents (the excerpt is truncated mid-Figure 14 description); whether the listed dates, status, or assignees are legally accurate; and any litigation, validity, or prior-art matters (not researched per instruction).
Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/[US8108378](/patent/US8108378)/en
Generated 10/1/2026, 10:02:29 PM
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Litigation summary
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PTAB challenges
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Assignment history
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Prior art
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Obviousness
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Extensions
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Derivative works
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