Compaq sued over digital-video technology

From...

by Michael Meehan

(IDG) -- Alleging that Compaq Computer manufactured PCs that use unlicensed, patent-protected MPEG-2 video compression standards, six electronics companies and Columbia University have sued the Houston-based original equipment manufacturer.

Filed in U.S. District Court in Delaware, the suit claims Compaq willfully infringed upon 26 patents. Denver-based MPEG LA is an MPEG industry group that has folded more than 275 patents into its MPEG-2 portfolio license.

According to the group, Compaq refuses to get licenses from patent holders to use the MPEG technology in its computers even though the computer maker has been told for the past three years that it needs to do so.

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Compaq spokesman Arch Currid would only say his company is investigating the claims and that "we'll vigorously defend the suit."

Larry Horn, vice president of licensing and business development for MPEG LA, a group that supports MPEG technology, said his organization has contacted Compaq by mail, phone and in person over this issue without gaining compliance.

Horn said that 95% of DVD-player, television and satellite-decoder manufacturers operate with the proper licenses to use this video technology but that OEMs for the most part use it without paying royalties to those that hold the patents on it. He listed Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, Dell Computer and Micron as other companies that don't have MPEG-2 licenses.

"I hope we'll see compliance from the entire industry," Horn said. "That's what we've always sought. We'd rather work with people than take them to court."

He added that MPEG LA is willing to negotiate an agreement with Compaq, licensing it to use the patented decoding and encoding for the MPEGs.

The plaintiffs are General Instrument, Mitsubishi Electric, U.S. Philips, Victor of Japan, Matsushita Electric Industrial, France Telecom and the trustees of Columbia University.

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