PUBPAT Fights Against JPEG Patent

The Public Patent Foundation has set its sights on a compression patent owned by Forgent Networks, saying it has proof of prior art that would invalidate the company's rights to the technology. The group has asked the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to revoke the patent.

Forgent acquired the rights to the data compression patent through a 1997 purchase of Compression Labs. It did not start enforcing the patent until about a year ago. At that time, it filed several lawsuits against various companies including Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, Sun, RIM and Google.

RIM has settled with Forgent, however Sun and Google have countersued the company accusing CLI of defrauding the U.S. Patent Office about a lack of prior art.

"CLI is using the '672 patent to harass anyone that implements the Joint Photographic Experts Group ('JPEG') format," PUBPAT said it its filing. "CLI's aggressive assertion of the '672 patent is causing substantial public harm by threatening this international standard on which the public relies."

If Forgent is successful in its suits, it could threaten a widely-used standardized graphics format that is implemented in today's electronics and technologies, including publishing, graphics and digital photography.

"Forgent Networks is a classic example of the new and rapidly growing trend of patent holders that do nothing more than sue people who make products or services available to the public," PUBPAT Executive Director Dan Ravicher said in a statement.

"Unfortunately, the patent system allows for such perverse behavior because it cares more about patent holders than it does the public," Ravicher argued.

A decision on the matter from the patent office is not expected for at least one year. However, a court case could drag on for years afterwards, analysts say.