Patent Reform

The company Forgent Networks has settled lawsuits over a patent dealing with JPEGs. Forgent Networks originally sought $1 billion from the companies it was suing, but the final deal was for $8 million. This case brought up the issue of patent reform which has been a focus both in Washington and throughout Europe. According to the article, large corporations have been claiming that smaller companies have been suing them in mass while the smaller companies claim that the larger corporations keep trying to steal their inventions. Other companies have interests on both sides and therefore agreements on patent reform have been difficult in developing.
Although certainly not true in all situations, it seems that the focus of many of these companies is merely the bottom line with little regard to issues such as ethics causing companies to side with the area which has the potential for highest levels of revenue.