Sounds like you answered your own question!. First; TRUDEF being updated from the old codec is what's important!. Second; protecting the updated codec brings us to where we are today. Nevada Court Case!. Third; why get a patent issued when it's not need, only updates which will continue into infinity. TRUDEF™ is the successor of TMMI's VDK SoftVideo™ fractal compression products TMMI TRUDEF moves onward and upward!.