Re: [rtcweb] Proposal for H.263 baseline codec

[Randell Jesup <[e-mail]>]

On 3/29/2012 1:12 PM, Silvia Pfeiffer wrote:
> Very interesting discussion. Out of personal curiosity, I have some
> questions inline.
>
> On Thu, Mar 29, 2012 at 7:20 AM, Stephan Wenger<[e-mail]>  wrote:
>>
>> The most commonly cited timeline for a widely in use technology to be
>> "save" from a patent viewpoint, based on equitable defenses such as laches
>> (in the US) is six years.
>
> Very interesting to know the usually used limit on the number of
> years. IIUC that would make Speex, Vorbis and Theora "save" codecs,
> since they were released in 2003, 2000, and 2004 respectively?

IANAL:  No, since the defense (with some notable exceptions) is by a 
specific person against delayed assertion of a suit against them, so 
someone using Speex for example could not use that defense for circa 6 
years after they began using it.  Note that publication of a spec 
doesn't violate a patent (though using it may).  In practice the defense 
might be even more limited, for example if the infringer made very 
limited use of the patent for years such that the owner didn't even know 
they were infringing; it's possible the court might start the clock when 
the owner knew or could/should have known of the infringement.


-- 
Randell Jesup
[e-mail]