Liquid Audio awarded patent

Online music software and services company Liquid Audio says it was awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent Office for its watermark technology used for distributing secure digital music files. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company said the patent convers its technique for embedding and detecting watermark data within an audio signal. Liquid Audio added that the watermark patent is one of several patents that has been granted to the company by the U.S. Patent Office. The announcement follows shortly after the company laid off 40 percent of its work force, or 78 employees out of its staff of 195, in an effort to stay afloat through the economic downturn.