Palm-Xerox Patent Dispute Continues

Palm said a U.S. District Court denied a Xerox motion to halt sales of the devices, after a judge ruled that Palm's Graffiti handwriting recognition software infringes upon a Xerox patent. As reported by CRN in December, Palm has denied any wrong doing and has appealed the decision.

The ruling made last Friday states that the Xerox motion was "premature" because Palm's appeal is still pending, Palm said. However, officials at Xerox said that Palm will be required to post a $50 million bond with the court to cover potential damages that could accrue during the appeal period.

In 1997, Xerox sued U.S. Robotics, later acquired by 3Com, claiming that the company's single-stroke handwriting recognition technology infringed on its patent. The technology in question, known as Unistrokes, was invented at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, according to Xerox. 3Com subsequently spun-off its Palm handheld division as a separate company.

A court ruled last December that Palm's Graffiti technology did indeed infringe upon a valid Xerox patent. The next step in the dispute is for a court to hear Palm's appeal.

"We intend to pursue our appeal vigorously and have excellent arguments to support our view," Eric Benhamou, 3Com Chairman and CEO, said in a statement. "For thousands of years people have been creating writing symbols. Xerox doesn't own the alphabet."

Xerox said Palm and 3Com will be jointly and separately liable if damages are awarded in the case.