One thing you don't know, in these situations, is the foreplay prior to 
the actual initial filing of the suit.
Often, the purpose of the filing isn't so much to drag the other side 
through the discovery process, the trial process, and subsequent appeals 
but rather to force the other side to finally commit to something 
discussed previously.
The big problem now in the access technology industry is that we have a 
mixture of corporate and entrepreneurial entities; and the 2 think and act 
differently.
In the corporate environment, lawsuits are commonplace -- corporations 
maintain legal departments for stuff like this.
In the entrepreneurial environment, entrepreneurs focus on what they do 
best -- develop.
When the 2 cultures clash, as they are more and more doing in access 
technology, you see things like this.
What may well happen from all this is that entrepreneurial access 
developers may well have to affiliate with recognized tech companies to 
give themselves the corporate protections and umbrellas.
The days of the ma and pa access tech developer working out of the back 
bedroom or storefront office may be dwindling as this industry has matured 
parties seeing bigger and bigger stakes.
It's a compliment to this industry as now it is entering the mainstream; 
and when something goes mainstream, its culture and workings change.


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