VoloMedia Claims Patent on Podcasting

Written by Ryan Lawler

Wednesday, July 29. 2009 at 09:00 AM EDT Post a comment

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Podcasting ad technology firm Volomedia Inc. says it received its first patent award yesterday -- and it's a big one.

The company, which provides advertising and analytics for downloadable content, claims that U.S. patent No. 7,5668,213, entitled "Method for Providing Episodic Media," details how podcasts are delivered to consumers.

According to the company press release, the patent "covers the fundamental mechanisms of podcasting, including providing consumer subscription to a show, automatically downloading media to a computer, prioritizing downloads, providing users with status indication, deleting episodes, and synchronizing episodes to a portable media device."

VoloMedia CEO Murgesh Navar says he filed for the patent in 2003, well before podcasting became popular. Navar notes that Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), which helped popularize podcasts through its iTunes music store, didn't add podcasting to its media application until 2005.

According to Navar, Apple didn't file its own podcasting patent application until two years after VoloMedia's patent was filed.

One thing that Navar stresses is that VoloMedia is not a patent troll -- "We have actual products and technology," he says. In other words, the company is not just looking to make a quick buck by launching lawsuits against podcast producers or distributors.

What Navar hopes is that the patent will lead to more collaboration with other technology companies, which he believes will help make more content available on a downloadable, ad-supported basis.

"Fundamentally we want to work collaboratively," Navar says. "Our main goal, and how we win, is in accelerating this market and making it more real."

The 213 patent is one of about a dozen patents that VoloMedia has filed since being founded.