Patent infringement issues surrounding the JPEG image standard resurfaced on Thursday after a small software vendor filed lawsuits against 31 companies ranging from Adobe Systems Inc. and Apple Computer Inc. to IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co.
Forgent Networks Inc. said that it had filed two separate patent infringement lawsuits in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, seeking injunctions against the use of its patented technology as well as damages. Forgent, through its subsidiary Compressions Labs Inc., holds a patent on digital image compression technology that company officials said is fundamental to the JPEG format, a file standard used throughout software applications, digital cameras and devices, and the Web. Michael Noonan, director of investor relations for Austin, Texas-based Forgent, said the patented technology covers the algorithm used in JPEG to compress data for transport, encoding and decoding. Forgent had sought to reach licensing arrangements with the defendants in the lawsuit, he said.
News source: eWeek
