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Forgent Squeezing Money Out Of JPEG, Other Patents
deman1985 writes "Forbes reports that Forgent Networks, Inc., developer of scheduling software and holder of a number of technology patents, has settled with both Adobe and Sony for JPEG patent infringement and is going after numerous others to collect their fair share of royalties. The company also plans to go after PVR companies, including TiVo Inc, and MP3 player makers for other various patents they claim to hold. Sounds like more fun in the courts for everyone!" We previously reported on Forgent's JPEG patent shenanigans back in April.
...to Repeat It. We all remember the problems with GIF just few years ago. We solved them changing every single image on the Internet to JPEG. We all have to admit that it was foolish. We're weak on logic, that's the trouble with us. We're like the guy in the story who was caught in a sudden shower and who ran to a grove of trees and got under one. He wasn't worried, you see, because he figured when one tree got wet through, he would just get under another one.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
The big ones are not much better. If you are a small company with a product, IBM, Apple, Microsoft etc will just as happily use their patents against you if you happen to annoy them enough (or if they think they can extract enough pocket change from you). And the only reason that we have this silly system of software patents that allows this kind of racketeering, is exactly because the big companies pushed the patent offices and the courts to accept these kinds of patents.
They're not the ones to pity, as it's mainly their fault we're stuck with the system as it is.
Donate free food here
I would like to agree, and certainly agree with the spriti of what you're saying, but there is a practical problem too.
Suppose I succesfully work out all the problems and design the perfect cold fusion-based reactor. There is no possible way for me to implement it - I have to go to an energy company to get a power plant built (at the very least, a bank who will loan me the utter fortune I require to construct it).
At this point, under the changes you suggest the device is not patentable since it has not yet been implemented. What is to stop an unscrupulous energy company, or bank, or indeed anyone who gets wind of it from taking my design and implementing it themselves with no further input from me? Worse still, once they have the implementation it is they who will profit from obtaining a patent, not me.
So the "no patent without implementation" idea is flawed. It's a shame, because it sounds like a good way out. But it wouldn't work as described.
Incidently, I refused to have my name listed as the co-inventer on a patent my company wanted to file because I considered it so trivial as to be silly. I don't want my name associated with patent abuse, and if more people took that approach this problem simply wouldn't occur. That's a pipe-dream though.
Cheers,
Ian
Check the site [jpeg.org] yourself, and try to find any pledge from them that the specifications for JPEG or JPEG2000 are safe to use.
In a day and age when it isn't safe to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or put out some toys for kids to play with while their parents do business with you, how do you expect them to make such a pledge?
KFG
The parasite business model. Companies that buy or create patents then just sue everyone. We've seen SCO and Unisys (LZW patent), this sort of action seems to suggest a failing in their product line.
I have no problem with companies protecting their innovative ideas to ensure their time and money invested is rewarded.
I believe that you should only be able to defend patents and your inventions if you actually produce a product based upon them.
What's the point of this ridiculous rant? Simple. Don't let this happen wherever you live. Please. I might move there some day, just so I can continue in my chosen profession.
As for your question... I don't think you should worry. If anyone bothers you, you can move your project somewhere else at that time. You have no obligation to care about this country's ridiculous IP laws.
Cheers!
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
It really depends what you are taking a screenshot of. A game screen (probably the most common screenshot type in existance) is going to be horrible with PNG unless you're taking screenshots of Pong. Even desktops are bad unless you unset that nifty photographic background and or pictures on a webbrowser etc...
The point is, once the complexity of the image goes above "very simple" JPEG is going to give you a smaller file nearly every time. There are precious few images worth saving as a file that are "very simple". Worse, PNG ramps up in size very quickly as the complexity increases, which is what the original poster was talking about.
I read the internet for the articles.
I'm also against software patents but I think it's too simple an explanation to blame the large corporations only. Yes, the big organizations typically want software patents, and I see them how they push very hard for software patents in the EU where we have that ongoing legislative process.
However, I also see the major mistake of small and medium-sized enterprises: They don't act. Large corporations understand that politics affect business, so they view political activities as part of their business. Small and medium-sized enterprises are usually run by people who believe that it's "prudent" to focus on the "core business" and not to do anything serious on the political front.
The narrowmindedness and ignorance of most small and medium-sized enterprises makes it very easy for the large corporations to get what they want, and to defend it later.
Look at most industry associations: They claim to speak on behalf of numerous small companies but are pretty much under the control of a few large members. An organization like the SIIA should fight against software patents every day. It should be their #1 priority because nothing is a bigger business risk to software companies than those absurd software patents. Instead, the SIIA just asks for more funds to be provided to the USPTO. Sure, with more resources, the USPTO may be able to examine patent applications more carefully. Still the real solution is to do away with patents on computer program logic, i.e. mental steps. And where are the organizations, except for some open source and civil rights organizations, that truly fight against software patents?
Maybe, at the end of the day, many small and medium-sized enterprises just pay the price for political ignorance and inactivity. Right now, there would be an excellent chance to get software patents abolished in the EU, and that would be a signal for other regions of the world (especially if things work out well for the EU, and I'm quite sure they would because software patents stifle innovation and adversely affect economic growth).