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Fun fact: there was an attempt by the MPEG working group to design a non-patent-encumbered internet video format. It was killed late in the process by several
by TazeTSchnitzel 6y ago
Fun fact: there was an attempt by the MPEG working group to design a non-patent-encumbered internet video format.
It was killed late in the process by several companies making patent claims on the finished standard, without saying which patents were infringed, therefore making it impossible for the standard to be reworked.
- yboris 6y agoI'm not doubting your story, I'm just curious how is that legally possible? I thought in the US you're innocent until proven guilty.
- maxerickson 6y agoIt's very difficult to preemptively establish that something is not encumbered by a patent, which is what the group releasing the standard would have to do to make the standard adoptable. If someone successfully claims the standard infringes their patent after it is released, it failed to accomplish the goal.
- est31 6y agoFirst, that's a principle of the penal system, not the civil courts which would decide such matters. Second, this didn't involve any legal action at all, and was instead just as a threat, basically saying that if they went forward with the standard, they would sue companies that invested into the standard, but by that point the companies would be in a bad situation as they'd have invested tremendous resources into the codec. The moment you make any kind of non trivial program (say 20k lines and above) you almost guaranteed violate some patent so they were probably even right with their claims.
- dancodes 6y agoIf your last statement is true, how come there are companies working on software every day and not getting sued constantly?
- adrr 6y agoThere’s threats of lawsuits all the time. Run an e-commerce site and you’ll get demand letters for cash from patent trolls.
- MobiusHorizons 6y agoThey are actually getting sued, maybe not constantly, but if you are a valuable target, often enough. It has just become the cost of doing business.
- ampdepolymerase 6y agoThey are. Quibi was under lawsuit by Elliot Management.
- zinekeller 6y agoI'm pretty sure that patent contests are the fanfare of Europe (not EU or anything, Europe). Since ISO and the now-disbanded MPEG group is based in Europe... (If I remembered correctly the contesting group were mainly European and Asian companies. I forgot if Nokia opposed this.)
- patentatt 6y agoIt was just a vague threat that MPEG decided to heed, they could have decided to ignore it too.
- TazeTSchnitzel 6y agoThe problem of course being that if anyone tried to implement the standard without having a license agreement with those companies, they'd get a threatening letter.