quoting from http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/6/19/35919/4079
> the US patent has expired. What does this leave?
* The European patent EP0,129,439 covers Germany, France, Britain and Italy and expires on the 18th June 2004.
* The Canadian patent CA1,223,965 expires on the 6th June 2004.
* The Japanese patents 2,123,602 and 2,610,084 expire on the 20th June 2004.
This creates an interesting legal situation where LZW-based sofware is legal to distribute in the United States, but risks patent infringement claims in or when exported to Europe, Canada and Japan.
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note that http://burnallgifs.org/ recommends continuing the boycott presumably until patent claims on GIF end for the entire world (not just the countries listed above) ... also patents that are derivatives of the original LZW algorithm might exist for many ears to come.
Since I bothered to follow up on this, I thought you might be interested in the current situation even if it sounds like splitting hairs.