Re: [patch] Removal of GIF support
On Tue, Jul 21, 1998 at 02:26:32PM -0700, Kevin Oberman wrote:
Anybody have the patent number and/or the date of expiration?
It's
been around for quite a while.
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html
Both Unisys and IBM applied for their patents in 1983, which means
they will now expire in the year 2003. Until then, anyone who releases
a free program for making GIF files is likely to be sued. We don't
know any reason to think that the patent owners would lose these
lawsuits.
OG.