Okay, we've tried really hard to stay open-minded about this whole Imatec lawsuit, but it just gets harder and harder to take that company seriously. Imatec, as you almost certainly already know, is suing Apple for over a billion dollars, claiming that our favorite computer company willfully infringed upon three Imatec patents when they came up with their ColorSync color management technology. While Apple has kept characteristically quiet about the lawsuit ("We don't comment on pending litigation, but we feel that the case has no merit"), Imatec seems to be treating the whole thing as nothing but a public relations stunt. Take, for example, their practice of issuing press releases every time anything happens in the lawsuit-- or even when nothing happens, for that matter-- just to keep the case visible in the press. The most recent press release is even more an exercise in grabbing eyeballs, as Imatec CEO Hanoch Shalit announces that he's been interviewed by stock-line.com-- and, of course, it mentions the lawsuit.

The ten-minute phone-in RealAudio interview started off with Dr. Shalit reading the numbers and names of his three patents, and it didn't take him long to mention the Apple suit. Isn't it interesting that Dr. Shalit announced in an interview targeted at investors that his $3 million "developmental stage" company stood to gain as much as $3.3 billion in they win the Apple suit? We're sure that must look good to the investors. In fact, we seriously doubt that the interview would ever have happened at all if Imatec didn't have the Apple lawsuit as a carrot on a stick for the media. We try really hard to see Imatec's Shalit as potentially being the little guy who got stepped on by Big Bad Apple, but his constant begging for media coverage frankly smacks of blackmail tactics and an attempt to raise interest in his company's stock. Isn't it ironic that the link to Imatec's stock quote in the press release yields a "symbol not found" error?

Remember, based on what we've heard, this seems to be a company that has been busted before for selling stock without registering with the state of New York. This seems to be a $3 million company that has never had any income. This seems to be a $3 million company that is suing one of the most media-visible computer companies in existence for $1.1 billion, with the possibility of treble damages. This seems to be a company that has been associated with an investment bank that got shut down for fraud. And, as far as we can tell, this seems to be a company that seems to consist of little more than one guy-- this Shalit character, who as "Chairman/President/CEO/Secretary" (yes, he's really listed that way in the company profile, which at least lists a Dian Griesel as the company contact person) keeps issuing his company's press releases. How can we possibly see this lawsuit as anything but a long-shot attempt to win a few billion dollars, a slightly-more-likely chance to obtain a cash settlement from Apple just to go away, and at the very least a way to attract media attention in the hopes of inflating Imatec's stock price?