JPEG Patent May be Enforced

Since 1986, Patent No. 4,698,672 has done little more than languish in the archives of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Government examiners first issued the patent, which covers a "coding system for reducing redundancy" to a San Jose, California, company called Compression Labs. The approval came more than a decade before the digital imaging technology known as JPEG reached mass-market popularity.
Sixteen years later, however, the Austin, Texas, software developer that now owns the patents is seeing fresh value in an old document. The company, Forgent Networks, says the patent directly applies to a compression technique used in the creation of JPEG images.
Now, Forgent says it is seeking licensing revenue from companies that implement JPEG in "all fields of use," with the sole exception of the satellite broadcast business.
In a statement published last week, Forgent said the patent could apply to a broad range of companies that make "devices used to compress, store, manipulate, print or transmit digital images." Potential licensees include makers of digital cameras, digital camcorders with still image functions and PDAs.