Xerox, Palm Settle Patent Spat

Palm said Wednesday that it had settled a nine year-old lawsuit with Xerox over handwriting recognition technology by making a $22.5 million payment to the company. In return, Palm would be licensed to use the patent as well as two others. Additionally, Xerox has agreed not to sue Palm for patent infringement for seven years.

Xerox originally sued 3Com in April 1997, claiming that the Graffiti technologies used in Palm handhelds infringed upon a patent that the company had received in January of that year. Xerox cited a desire to end the legal process and avoiding further costs as a reason for settling with Palm. Neither company publicly commented on the settlement other than announcing of the deal.