I cant be the only one that is getting a little irritated with finding that I have been introduced to something by various companies under the impression that it is free only to find out only *years* later that someone is claiming millions because they apparently own it. Anyone remember the lawsuits for the Hyperlink - British company taking action I think was part of the post office.
I would prefer that courts took the view that if the patent was not vigorously defended *every year*, the owners lost all rights to it.
Anyone up to develp a royalty free "Open Source" image compression algo?
First seen at:
[dpreview.com...]
Also at:
[theregister.co.uk...]
Original patent at:
[patft.uspto.gov...]
Mark
