Since "Redmond Justice" is bogged down in yet a fifth day with economist Frederick Warren-Boulton on the stand (somebody wake up the director so we can get this thing moving again!), we thought we'd check into some of the other legal trouble brewing in the tech world. The one nearest and dearest to our hearts, of course, is the Imatec suit. You remember, of course, that a small company called Imatec is suing Apple for over a billion dollars for infringing on its patents in the ColorSync color management technology. Recently, Imatec claimed that Apple did it on purpose, which raises the stakes somewhat-- if found liable, Apple might have to cough up well over three billion dollars, which would very likely cripple our happy heroes. What to do?

First things first-- according to a Reuters story, Apple refused to settle. That's probably a very good sign, as it backs up Apple's claim that the case is without merit and it shows they're willing to fight. Unfortunately, in pre-trial depositions, Apple acknowledged that they have "no policy in place... for verifying if [a] product infringes other companies' patents" before that product hits the shelves. Whoops! Minor oversight there, hmmm? That might have been just enough of a foot in the door for Imatec to decide that it may have a chance of winning after all.

Still, we're confident that Apple will prevail. There's lots of evidence to support the notion that Imatec's just trying to grab the money and run; for more on the "trumped-up lawsuit" angle, check out this excellent MacTimes article, which includes some interesting excerpts from Imatec's latest SEC filing. Basically, we liken the case to having to walk across a three-foot-wide catwalk that's positioned over a thirty-foot drop onto giant steel spikes. Three feet is plenty of space on which to keep your balance, but it you do fall for some reason, well, things get really messy. The first court date isn't scheduled until next March, and any number of things could happen in the meantime. Let's wait and see if Imatec's just bluffing.