Broadcom still has an ITC case lodged against Qualcomm, with hearings scheduled next week. Motorola, Sprint Nextel, and Samsung Electronics have asked to weigh in on the matter. The ITC said it will complete its investigation by May 8. In January, a San Diego jury found infringement by Broadcom of two Qualcomm video compression patents, propelling the two towards talks resulting in settling two lawsuits in February. Expect more maneuvering, and more settlements.

McAfee stepped out early. Acacia still has assertion of 6,314,574 going against H&R Block, Riverdeep, and Sage Software. Acacia, which maintains a hectic roster of litigation, regularly squeezes settlement out of its targets.

Emergis filed 17 suits between May 2005 and March 2006 for infringing 7,054,844, mostly targeting utilities and energy companies for their online billing systems. Some cases have been dismissed, sometimes with prejudice, while others are still pending. The Orlando Utilities Commission settled by making a one-time payment for a permanent license, according to an Emergis spokesperson. Figure that Emergis is just warming up, unless and until a silver invalidity bullet is found.