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This week’s Patently Obvious report focuses on the patent holdings of Dot Hill Systems and CommVault Systems. M&A activity in the technology sector continues to be white-hot in the wake of Hewlett-Packard’s acquisition of ArcSight and 3PAR. As in previous weeks, news of imminent rollups in the storage and security sectors has driven further speculation into the identity of the next impending targets.

Microsoft, a 10 year veteran of mobile operating systems has stumbled in the space due to the failure of its Kin phone, forcing a reorganization of its consumer product unit. In a bid to regain lost ground in the mobile phone arena, Microsoft has put its vast resources behind the new Windows Phone 7 operating system. On October 1, 2010, on the eve the of Windows Phone 7 release, Microsoft sued Motorola, claiming that Motorola's mobile phones infringed on nine of its patents.

On October 5, 2010, NuVasive, Inc. initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against Globus Medical, Inc. over Globus Medical’s LLIF lateral fusion offerings. NuVasive claims that these instruments, implants and techniques infringe on NuVasive’s XLIF intellectual property, specifically that disclosed within U.S. Patent No. 7,691,057. In fact, this is just the most current in a string of lawsuits NuVasive has levied against competitors such as Orthofix International and a counterclaim against Medtronic.

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.