LZW patent expired

Matthias Andree matthias.andree at gmx.de
Sun Jun 22 13:23:25 PDT 2003


On Sun, 22 Jun 2003, Alexander Leidinger wrote:

> On Fri, 20 Jun 2003 16:06:44 +0200
> Matthias Andree <ma at dt.e-technik.uni-dortmund.de> wrote:
> 
> > I don't care about software patents _YET_, so why bother. The patent
> > cannot possibly have been issued under the German Patent Act. If it was,
> > the patent is unlawful.
> 
> But as long as it is listed as a patent they can sue you if you use it
> and you have to pay a lawyer, regardless of the unlawfulness of the
> patent.

I'm not using or shipping unlicensed LZW code.

What I mean is: if someone gets sued in Germany, he might try to
challenge the patent itself.


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