On August 2, Tucson-based company Research Corporation Technologies (RCT) won a reversal of a federal court decision that had found RCT's six patents-in-suit unenforceable due to "inequitable conduct" and denied RCT's charges of patent infringement by Microsoft. The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had also granted Microsoft a summary judgment finding the patents invalid and non-infringed.

RCT has also licensed its "Blue Noise Mask" digital imaging patents to HP, Lexmark, and Epson.

Microsoft continues to maintain that the RCT patents are invalid and not infringed by Windows or Office.

May 18, 2008 - Apple has filed a lawsuit against Atico International USA, alleging patent and trademark infringement resulting from Atico's sales of various unauthorized iPod accessories.

Atico's iPod accessories are marketed under the name "Living Solutions" and are sold online and in stores such as Walgreen's drug stores.

Apple charges manufacturers a royalty on all official iPod accessories.

May 16, 2008 - Eastman Kodak announced that it has settled its patent dispute with St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants, Inc., which had filed a complaint against Eastman Kodak with the US International Trade Commission in January 2007. The complaint alleged that Kodak infringed St. Clair's patents pertaining to certain digital cameras and component parts.

May 15, 2008 - A federal judge has ordered Nintendo of America to pay $21 million to Anascape, a Texas company that owns a portfolio of patents related to game controllers.

Anascape sued Nintendo in 2006, claiming that Nintendo's Gamecube controller, the Wavebird wireless pad and the Wii Classic add-on infringed several of Anascape's patents.

Microsoft was also sued by Anascape in 2006, but settled with them earlier this month for an undisclosed amount.

May 13, 2008 - Jibbitz LLC, the maker of ornamental charms for Crocs shoes, won a $56 million default judgment against a Chinese company that was found to infringe on 179 of Jibbetz's copyrighted designs, had 33 additional designs that were "identical or deceptively similar" to Jibbetz designs and even used the Jibbetz name and logo on their website.

The defendants - Jeffrey Ye, Yuanhui Chen, Jinjiang Huakai Shoes & Garments Co. Ltd. and Xiamen Unibest Import & Export Co. Ltd. - did not respond to the complaint and failed to appear at a March hearing for a preliminary injunction.

April 1, 2008 - A U.S. court has thrown out the new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rules designed to limit the size of patent applications, a ruling that pleased GlaxoSmithKline Plc.

The company, Europe's largest drugmaker, had been concerned that many of their patent applications would exceed the maximum application size and need to be refiled.

As the patent office takes an average of 32 months to approve or reject a patent, having to refile would deal a major blow to Glaxo and other large pharmaceutical companies with large patent portfolios.

March 28, 2008 - In a lawsuit filed by Hynix Semiconductor and two other firms (Micron, a U.S. company, and Nanya, a Taiwanese company), a court in San Jose, California decided that Rambus did not violate an anti-trust law with its patent on DRAM manufacturing technology.

However, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission accepted the opinion of the global chip industry and had recently made a tentative decision that Rambus violated anti-trust laws. It's quite possible that all chipmakers use Rambus' patented technology, so the industry has been watching the Rambus v. Hynix case carefully.

March 25, 2008 - Nortel has agreed to pay Ipernica, a tech-incubator company in Perth, Australia, $13.3 million as part of a settlement. Ipernica earlier settled with Juniper Networks, Cisco and Alcatel Lucent.

Ipernica claimed in its suit that Nortel and the other companies were using its Statistical Multiplexing (Stat Mux) technology without permission. Ipernica is currently suing seven more companies - including Ericsson and Nokia - for patent infringement in a lawsuit known as "Stat Mux II."

March 25, 2008 - Typhoon announced that it had expanded its touch screen patent infringement case against Dell, Inc. (originally filed in December 2007) by adding more defendants via an amended complaint. The new defendants include Xplore Technologies Corporation of America, Electrovaya, Inc. and Sand Dune Ventures, Inc. aka TabletKiosk.

March 20, 2008 - Continental Airlines Inc. has settled a patent lawsuit with Ronald A. Katz Technology Licensing LP for an undisclosed sum.

Under the settlement, Continental will receive a nonexclusive license on a patent for interactive voice applications, including services offered by Continental in customer service provided by automated systems and live agents.