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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/patent_summary')
| -rw-r--r-- | doc/patent_summary | 9 |
1 files changed, 8 insertions, 1 deletions
diff --git a/doc/patent_summary b/doc/patent_summary index b9623d09..5fe0923c 100644 --- a/doc/patent_summary +++ b/doc/patent_summary @@ -22,6 +22,13 @@ applied to things you implement in computer programs. This is one of the Free Software Foundation's causes. See <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy.html#laws>. +All the patents mentioned in this file have probably expired. The maintainer +is unaware of any recent patented inventions used in Netpbm. + + +JBIG patents +------------ + The Jbigtopnm and Pnmtojbig programs use arithmetic coding patents and other patents covering various aspects of the "front end." @@ -37,7 +44,7 @@ Forgent owns a patent it believes covers JPEG compression. This patent was virtually unknown before July 2002, when Forgent began to enforce it. It has successfully enforced it against two companies (Sony and an unnamed Japanese digital camera maker), but without court -ruling. This patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,698,672, expires in 2006. +ruling. This patent, U.S. Patent No. 4,698,672, expired in 2006. Philips and Lucent Technologies also own patents they claim cover JPEG. |