Re: OT: Is jpeg a true open standard without patents?

de Dewey Edwards 05/27/2006 07:14

On Fri, 26 May 2006 00:45:06 +0100, Ben
<notarealemail@replytothegroup.invalid> wrote:

>John Jay Smith wrote:
>
>> But my question is this: is JPEG a totally open standard without a patent
>> attached to it?
>
>No, basically.
>
>"Forgent Networks, which two years ago said it would pursue royalties on
>its JPEG patent, has renewed its offensive.
>
>The compression patent used in the popular image format, (USPTO
>4,698,672, or '672), was filed by Compression Labs in October 1986. This
>dormant company was acquired by Forgent Networks in 1997. In June 2002,
>Forgent announced that it had "sole and exclusive right to use and
>license all the claims" of '672 in all fields except satellite
>broadcasting. Widespread alarm and dismay accompanied the news that
>Forgent had persuaded Sony Corporation to pay $15m for use of the fees.
>
>The furore died down after the ISO threatened to withdraw
>standards-blessing from the format. ISO can only endorse royalty-free
>formats. However, Forgent claims to have netted $90m in various
>licensing royalties since then.
>
>Today's suit targets thirty industry refuseniks who Forgent says have
>rejected its royalty terms. These include Japanese consumer electronics
>giants JVC, Matsushita (Panasonic) and Ricoh; camera companies Fuji
>Photo Film, Agfa, Eastman Kodak; PC makers IBM, Dell, Apple, HP, Toshiba
>and Gateway; Xerox and Palm; and software companies including Adobe,
>Macromedia, and JASC."
>
>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/04/23/forgent_jpeg_suit/
>
>Search the Register for Forgent to dig up any more you need to know :)

Or here - http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060526105754880

"NEW YORK -- May 26, 2006 -- In the reexamination proceeding initiated
late last year by the Public Patent Foundation ("PUBPAT"), the United
States Patent and Trademark Office has rejected the broadest claims of
the patent Forgent Networks (Nasdaq: FORG) is asserting against the
Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) international standard for the
electronic sharing of photo-quality images. In its Office Action
released yesterday, the Patent Office found that the prior art
submitted by PUBPAT completely anticipated the broadest claims of the
patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,698,672 (the '672 Patent)."