Intel won a battle against US patent firm TechSearch yesterday. TechSearch last year took action against Intel for allegedly infringing the patent on the International Meta Smalltalk patent. IM was a firm originally under Apple's wing, which developed an emulation mode that Techsearch claimed was infringed on by several of Intel's microprocessors, including Merced. However, a federal judge in California yesterday dismissed Techsearch's claim of summary judgement. It's likely that won't be the last we've heard of this case, however. Techsearch originally sued Intel for $2 billion over infringement but upped that to $8 billion. Intel has said that the case is "without merit" but must have been slightly worried, because it created a Cayman Island shell company to try to buy the patent when it was up for grabs... ® See also Merced, Pentium patents threatened in $8 billion suit Intel's IA64 programme threatened by IMS patent Meta Smalltalk patent spat assumes Merced meaning Intel, Teachsearch, IMS case takes further twist