Sometimes it seem like there are so many lawsuits floating around in the high-tech world, we honestly wonder how anyone actually gets any work done. And yet, somehow it all comes together: Sun keeps cranking out Java, Intel manages to keep those big ol' chips rolling off the assembly lines, and Microsoft churns out software package after software package. You'd think with all the time, money, and energy thrown into pursuing legal action and defending against others' lawsuits would affect the quality of the products. Hmmm... Still no Intel Merced, and yet another power-sucking iteration of the same old Pentium architecture... Windows 2000 (née NT) delayed yet again... Maybe we're onto something. You think?

That said, we've got to wonder how much further along Apple might be today if they weren't embroiled in their own set of legal issues. Would we already be using Mac OS X, for example? Would the big seller over the last holiday season have been the WebMate? Would we be able to buy Mood iMacs at the local supermarket? While it's fun to speculate, the fact of the matter is, Apple's on both sides of plenty of lawsuits to keep them busy. The biggie is that billion-dollar Imatec suit, but there are others, as well. For instance, Apple watchers who have been paying attention for a couple of years probably remember Exponential; they were the company that was working on their own variation of the PowerPC processor, using a technology which they claimed would yield much faster chips than IBM and Motorola were producing. Apple was Exponential's biggest investor, but when it became clear that Exponential's processors were only marginally faster than "traditional" PowerPC's, Apple pulled their funding and Exponential shut their doors.

Exponential sued Apple, of course, for some $500 million, and as far as we know that case is ongoing. But Apple also sued Exponential for auctioning off its chip patents to the highest bidder, which turned out to be S3, another chip manufacturer. S3 reportedly bought the 45 patents for $10 million, but Apple seeks to block the final sale with its lawsuit. So far it seems like Apple's not making a lot of headway; according to a Newsbytes article, the Delaware Chancery Court just dismissed a bunch of Apple's charges in the case, and rejected their requests that Exponential cancel its contracts with three of its bigwigs. On the plus side, the dispute over the patent sale itself still stands, and will be decided via a formal trial. Granted, it's a lot more mundane than, say, "Redmond Justice," but it keeps Apple's lawyers busy...