There are quite a few surprises in the lineup of white-collar lawyers amassed to defend Stanford executives. Here's one: What happened to those reports that Sir Allen had hired Brendan Sullivan?

The amicus brief filed by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr. argues that Prometheus Laboratories' patents covering a process for creating personalized medicine are invalid, but not because such a process can't be patented. Instead, the government maintains that the technology was obvious to the scientific community.

Isn't golf supposed to be a gentlemanly game in which disputes are settled over a drink back at the clubhouse? Not, apparently, when it comes to golf ball design. The bitter IP rivalry between the two leading golf ball manufacturers intensified Tuesday, when both companies filed suits in Delaware federal district court, each accusing the other of infringing patents on the top-of-the-line golf balls used by tour professionals.

A court in Marshall, Tex., citing the Federal Circuit's decision this week in Uniloc v. Microsoft, held that a jury had improperly calculated damages.