Vorbis has been around for over a decade now, and incorporated into numerous products with no successful patent threats yet. Xiph.org conducted a patent search and believes Vorbis does not infringe on any patents. And since US patents expire in 17 to 20 years, there is a shrinking body of patents that could be used against Vorbis.
No, apparently he does mean MP3, but don't ask me how a patent filed in 1997 covers a standard that was finalized in 1991. (Was there a delay between date of invention and date of application, maybe involving provisional patents? I do not know the details of these things.)
