For a short time, in the very early 1990s, Elonex was the UK's biggest PC maker. The north London-based firm rode the direct marketing boom better than anyone esle. And unlike most of its rivals, the company actually designed its own technology, even making its own mobos.

This industriousness paid off with a clutch of intellectual property rights/claims, most notably over power management technology used in many monitors.

The company has now won a useful battle with the decision of Taiwanese monitor firm Mag Technology to settle. Terms of the agreement, arranged through the Delware courts, have not been released. But money will be changing hands. It will also strengthen Elonex's litigious hand against other companies which include Compaq, NEC, Gateway and LG, according to Bloomberg.

Elonex still makes PCs in the UK and it is a major shareholder in Web development firm Entranet But you don't hear much of its system-building/network installation activities these days. Stand-by IP has to be where it's at! ®