Forbes: Software Company Sees Goldmine in Patent Cases. While it tries to build its line of scheduling software, Austin-based Forgent has been hiring lawyers to extract revenue from the company’s store of old patents. Already, Forgent has reaped nearly $50 million by claiming that one of its patents covers JPEG, the popular standard for digital images. Sony Corp. and Adobe Systems Inc. are among the tech giants that have settled with Forgent.
Interesting article that compares Forgent to “trial lawyers.” Also, the article includes a quote from an attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) comparing this to class-action lawyering. Do I detect an anti-plaintiff bias? Anyways, I’ve posted Forgent contracts on the web site.