Re: The GIF format as intellectual property

Paul Phillips (psphilli@sdcc8.UCSD.EDU)
Tue, 10 Jan 1995 05:12:09 +0100


On Tue, 10 Jan 1995, David Koblas wrote:

> Remember the pattent doesn't affect reading image formats, so LWZ
> compression don't have to be licensed by the client.

No. At least, that is not what Unisys claims. Unisys asserts that their
patent covers decompression (I assume that's what you meant to write.) I
was told this directly by Oliver Picher, spokesperson for Unisys on the
LZW issue.

Now, they may be wrong, or not telling the truth, or hoping that nobody
challenges them. But they do assert that decompression is covered.

--
Paul Phillips       EMAIL: psp@ucsd.edu       PHONE: (619) 220-0850 
WWW: http://www.primus.com/staff/paulp/         FAX: (619) 220-0873