Press Releases

LizardTech, Inc. Files Appeal in Patent Lawsuit Against Earth Resource Mapping

Seattle, WA, November 1, 2004 – LizardTech, Inc., a leader in software solutions that make it significantly easier to manage, distribute and access digital content such as aerial photography, satellite imagery and scanned color documents, today announced that the company has filed an appeal in their ongoing patent infringement lawsuit against Earth Resource Mapping (ERM) in the U.S. Court of Appeals.

In 1999, LizardTech filed a patent infringement lawsuit in U.S. District Court because the company asserts that the ECW image compression technology produced by ERM, a former licensee of LizardTech image compression technology MrSID with access to LizardTech’s Software Development Kit (SDK), infringed on one of LizardTech’s most important patents. The patents in question relate to wavelet encoding of large images and how computer memory is utilized to achieve effective results during this operation, which is of particular interest in the geospatial market.

A judge in U. S. District Court issued an order granting ERM’s motion for summary judgment. This is the second time the same judge ruled in favor of the defendant’s motion to dismiss LizardTech’s claim. LizardTech took the case to Federal Circuit Court of Appeals where the lower court’s decision to dismiss the claim was reversed and LizardTech’s patent claim was upheld. LizardTech and its legal counsel believe it is likely to prevail once again in its case against ERM upon appeal in Federal appellate court. LizardTech also has a contractual and moral obligation to defend the patents, funded by the U.S. Federal government and developed at Los Alamos National Laboratories.

LizardTech stated that this case has no relation to the emerging JPEG 2000 format. The company stands firmly behind the JPEG 2000 format, which is an internationally recognized ISO specification based on wavelet technology and represents a significant advance beyond the original JPEG. LizardTech pioneered the use of wavelets in the compression of imagery, and as experts in the application of wavelet technology, LizardTech fully support the JPEG 2000 standard and is working through the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) to extend JPEG 2000 capabilities in the geospatial market.

LizardTech is committed to bringing to market the most innovative and groundbreaking geospatial software to meet the needs of GIS professionals by helping them overcome the challenges associated with massive satellite imagery and aerial photography.

About LizardTech

Since 1992, LizardTech has delivered state-of-the-art software products for managing and distributing massive, high-resolution geospatial data such as aerial and satellite imagery and LiDAR data. LizardTech pioneered the MrSID technology, a powerful wavelet-based image encoder, viewer, and file format. LizardTech has offices in Seattle, Denver, London and Tokyo. For more information about LizardTech, visit www.lizardtech.com.

About Celartem

Celartem Technology Inc. http://www.celartem.com develops and sells innovative technologies for storage, access and distribution of rich media content. Celartem has developed technology in the areas of digital image compression, scalable image viewing and secure content distribution and management. Celartem is listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange, JASDAQ: 4330. Established in 1996, Celartem is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and has a wholly owned subsidiary, Celartem Inc. d.b.a. LizardTech with headquarters in Portland, OR.