JPEG-Patent is being reviewed:
The US Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to review the so-called JPEG patent with the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT). This is evident from a statement by the non-profit organization. In November 2005, they had submitted a formal application to review the patent of the company Forgent with the number 4,698,672 from 1987. PUBPAT believes that the technology was not new at the time. Now the patent office has responded that PUBPAT has raised "fundamentally new questions of patentability." The organization estimates the chances to be good that the patent will be declared invalid.
It would be very good if this patent would disappear. Because even if the open-source area has not been directly affected so far - with such patents, it is simply a matter of time before this area is also targeted. And to go through the mess that ran with GIF really doesn't have to be.