The legal landscape surround the jpeg file format is littered with defendants, as Forgent Networks filed complaints against thirty-one hardware and software manufacturers on Friday.

The companies had been contacted over the past year, and offered the opportunity to license the technology. None accepted.

This press release from July of 2002, clarifies their understanding of what they own when it comes to the seventeen-year-old jpg format.

The slashdot thread from back then contains some thoughtful and interesting commentary. Today’s thread is worth a visit for its discussion of jpeg vs PNG, the notion that jpg is actually a suite of many technologies, and that the jpg patent in questions will expire within the next couple of years or so.