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Masimo, Inc. is a medical technology company specializing in the development and manufacture of noninvasive patient monitoring technologies. Licensing its technology to companies such as GE Medical, Medtronic, Philips, OSI Systems, and China’s Mindray Medical, Masimo has placed itself at the forefront of the market for pulse oximetry technology solutions.

In May of 2010, Rolls-Royce fired the first salvo across the bow of Pratt & Whitney in what has become a back-and-forth contest between the two aerospace engineering giants. In the initial patent infringement suit, Rolls-Royce alleged that the design of Pratt & Whitney’s fan blades used in its GP7200 engine infringed on U.S. Patent No. 6,071,077, held by Rolls-Royce. In September, Pratt & Whitney responded not only with a denial of the allegations of infringement, but also with a countersuit stating that the ‘077 patent is invalid and unenforceable.

According to a recent Bloomberg Businessweek report, Apple is the most sued tech company on record since 2008. One viable explanation could be that competitors are (understandably) jealous of the unmatched fervor stirred up by consumers at the slightest hint of a new or updated Apple product. Another explanation, however, may be that these plaintiffs have legitimate claims. Are Apple’s gadgets, hailed as revolutionary and groundbreaking by the masses, actually based on the work of others? The result of two recent ITC rulings may provide some insight into these questions.

It is difficult to believe that an innovative company so pivotal to the rise of photography could be put out to pasture by misguided innovation management. Kodak, an iconic pillar of photography, has had a difficult time transitioning into the digital age. Despite its strong brand identity and extensive R&D efforts, Kodak finds itself becoming increasingly irrelevant as a market presence, grasping at straws and resorting to litigation in an effort to regain some semblance of the prominent position it once enjoyed.

In August of 2010, Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, initiated a lawsuit against 11 tech companies including Apple, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, YouTube, eBay, Netflix, OfficeMax, Office Depot, and Staples, alleging that they were in violation of patents granted to Interval Research in the 1990's while he was in a management role at that entity.