Re: GraphicsMagick & LZW compression

On Tue, 17 Jun 2003, Glenn Randers-Pehrson wrote:
> Google "contributory patent infringement" turns up a large pile of documents,
> including
>
> http://216.239.33.100/search?q=cache:2U4qCKxK_iIJ:www.capatents.com/downloads/O29.pdf+patent+contributory+infringement&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
>
> Not an example of an actual case, but a pamphlet on "Advantages of seeking patent
> protection in Canada in view of NAFTA".  Bottom of page 3, top of page 4 talk
> about being able to sue the Canadian infringer along with a US contributory infringer,
> which describes our situation almost exactly.

This is an interesting statement from the pamphlet: "In order to
effectively stop infringement at source, a patentee must have patent
rights in the country which is the source of supply."  In this case,
the "source of supply" is the US, in which Unisys will no longer have
a valid patent, and there is no intention on our part to export LZW
software to Canada, or any other country where LZW is still patented.

We have no effective means to *prevent* someone from another country
from importing the software into their country and dissobeying the
laws of their country.

The real issue is what is the package author's liability if a citizen
of a country where LZW is still patented imports and illegally uses
the patented algorithm?  I contend that the package author has no
liability if the package author took reasonable steps to ensure that
the importer was aware that the software used an algorithm which may
be protected by patent in his country.

Bob
======================================
Bob Friesenhahn
[email protected]
http://www.simplesystems.org/users/bfriesen



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