Forgent Patent Settlement: Foreshadowing for Geo?

I’ve been keeping an eye out for information on the REAL vs. Diane Sarkisian case (broadly, REAL has a patent on a process to find real estate on a map and sued an agent who used software that did that).

Today TechDirt provides an update on the Forgent JPG patent suits which look to me to have some parallels at least in how the company with the patent is trolling for money. If you missed it, some years ago Forgent, a tiny company, acquired some intellectual property including some that they thought retroactively was in the JPG image format. They went on a spree telling folks to pay up to license the technology. They hoped to get a ton of money, but recently settled all outstanding claims for $8 million. Over the course of the hunt they took in more than $100 million. That’s a lot of money, says Mike at TechDirt, for doing no innovation. The case is still in progress and who knows, might be upheld.

Bear this in mind as you watch the REAL case unfold.