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31 Lawsuits Filed Over Alleged JPEG Patent
dcrouch writes "Compression Labs has initiated a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas against 31 major companies for infringement of its 4,698,672 patent. The patent, filed in 1986, includes 46 claims for various embodiments of digital signal compression technology and reportedly covers JPEG compression. From the dates on the face of the patent, it appears that it will expire in October 2004. This looming date may have prompted the suit. Compression Labs will certainly have a fight on its hands. A major question will be why the patentee waited so long to stake its claim. The Eastern District of Texas court has established special patent rules that help speed the progression of litigation."
If you recall, IE still can't handle PNGs correctly. And contrary to whatever a /.-er may say, IE still dominates the browser market. And a big corporate website would probably rather use pictures that will work on everyone's browser.
Right now, we see plenty of stupid trademark disputes because you have to vigorously defend your trademark (even against insignicant little guys). I don't want to see more patent disputes for such reasons. Though more of such may cause more chaos and be the catylyst for major reforms.
I want a better patent system (and improvement regarding intellectual property rights) and I'm willing to go through more bad to get to the good, but I don't know how to get there. Though I know that no change means no progress.
In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been times like these. - Paul Harvey
That may be true, but the OED is the ultimate arbiter of the English language, and the OED only lists it as being a noun.
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." -- Delos B. McKown