Steve wrote:
>
> According to Unisys, freeware applications do need a license...
> however, according to their page at
> http://www.unisys.com/unisys/lzw/default.asp,
> "...reading and/or writing gif images requires a license to use
> Unisys patented Lempel Ziv Welch (LZW) data compression and
> decompression technology, including United States Patent No.
> 4,558,302, Japanese Patent Numbers 2,123,602 and 2,610,084, and
> patents in Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom."
Patents expire.
The US Patent above was issued Dec 10,1985. See:
http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1='4558302'.WKU.&OS=PN/4558302&RS=PN/4558302
I think this means it expires next year.
- Clarence Verge
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