San Francisco - At the request of the Electronic Frontier 
Foundation (EFF), the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) 
on Monday agreed to reexamine an illegitimate patent held by 
Clear Channel Communications.  The patent -- for a system 
and method of creating digital recordings of live 
performances -- locks musical acts into using Clear Channel 
technology and blocks innovations by others. 

"The Patent Office agrees that there are serious questions 
about the patent's validity," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason 
Schultz.  "This is a significant victory for artists and 
innovators harmed by Clear Channel's patent and for anyone 
concerned about overreaching, illegitimate patents." 

Clear Channel now has two months to file comments defending 
its patent, to which EFF will get to respond.  The PTO will 
then determine whether to invalidate the patent.  In roughly 
70% of instances like this one in which a request for 
reexamination is granted, the patent is narrowed or 
completely revoked. 

"Patents serve an important role in our economy," said 
Schultz.  "Keeping illegitimate patents out of that system 
benefits all of us, helping up-and-coming artists and 
entrepreneurs." 

EFF filed the request for reexamination in conjunction with 
Theodore C. McCullough of the Lemaire Patent Law Firm and 
with the help of students at the Glushko-Samuelson 
Intellectual Property Clinic at American University's 
Washington College of Law.  The Clear Channel patent 
challenge is part of EFF's Patent Busting Project, aimed at 
combating the chilling effects bad patents have on public 
and consumer interests.  The Patent Busting Project seeks to 
document the threats and fight back by filing requests for 
reexamination against the worst offenders. 

For more information about EFF's request and Clear Channel's 
patent:
<http://www.eff.org/patent/wanted/patent.php?p=clearchannel>

For EFF's Patent Busting Project:
<http://www.eff.org/patent/>