Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

The video conferencing company Forgent has announced that it is seeking royalties for the transmission of JPEG images from makers of browsers, PDAs, digital cameras, phones and scanners. JPEG is one of the best known digital image compression formats for still images.

The patent is owned by Compression Labs which applied for it in 1986, but Compression Labs never pursued royalties. Forgent subsequently acquired Compression Labs.

Forgent has the sole and exclusive right to use and license all the claims under the patent that implement JPEG in all "fields of use" except in the satellite broadcast business.

Forgent's "fields of use" for licensing opportunities include digital cameras, digital still image devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones that download images, browsers, digital camcorders with a still image function, scanners and other devices used to compress, store, manipulate, print or transmit digital images.

Richard Snyder, chairman and chief executive officer at Forgent, said:

"We wanted to ensure the investment community and the general public are clear about the terms of our valuable JPEG data compression technology, one of the many technologies we have in our patent portfolio. We are in ongoing discussions with other manufacturers of digital still cameras, printers, scanners and other products that use JPEG technology for licensing opportunities."

Forgent recently announced a licensing agreement with Sony for which Sony paid Forgent the sum of $15 million.

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