Xircom Inc is asking for the IEEE to extend its 1994 patent on bi-directional communication between PC printer ports and communication devices which use the parallel link to other kinds of devices. In other words the company wants to try and collect and royalty or license fee from makers of tape drives, CD-ROMs and any other devices including digital consumer electronic that connect to a PC through a parallel port network adapter. Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal made much of the apparent plug- and play nature of Xircom’s intent although the company say it has been blown out of all proportion. While Zenith, Microsoft, Intel, Compaq and HP all contributed intellectual property to the IEEE specification Xircom says anyone wanting to build an ITU V24-compliant modem using data compression has to pay a royalty fee to IBM, BT, Unisys and others who wrote the standard. Xircom says it believes its patent has wider applicability than communications devices using the port – though it wouldn’t say to what – and is pursuing a routine patent re-issuance procedure. It claims several companies have taken a license to cover the use of the patented technology in their product but wouldn’t disclose any names. Xircom makes network adapters for notebooks and other mobile PCs. The patent does not apply to the newer PCMCIA connection mechanism.
