Xerox sued in 1997, saying Graffiti infringed US patent 5,596,656. Friday’s summary judgment against Xerox said that prior art references anticipate and render obvious the claim, according to a statement palmOne issued late Friday.
Xerox looked like it was winning the case, having the same judge rule in December 2002 that the patent, covering the Unistrokes technology, was valid and enforceable, but palmOne, then Palm Inc, appealed.
We firmly believed that the broad interpretation of the patent, as it evolved in this case, would render the patent invalid, said Mary Doyle, palmOne’s general counsel. We are very pleased that this court has agreed.
