Four defendants have settled in the last two weeks, including all the chipmakers that took the lead in litigating against Wi-LAN's infringement claims. With less than a week to go before trial in East Texas--and with the remaining defendants running scared--we're guessing more licensing deals are in the offing.

The Federal Circuit handed Apple a victory on Wednesday, reviving two smartphone patents the company asserted at the ITC against rival Motorola Mobility. The ruling is a win for Orrick appellate heavyweight E. Joshua Rosenkranz, but it could also be a boon for Apple's lawyers at other firms doing battle with Samsung.

Merrill accused the insurer of whining after it failed to assess the risk of selling insurance on CDOs. A New York state judge largely agreed, but left one key claim for MBIA to pursue.

On Tuesday, after a five-week trial and four days of deliberations, a St. Louis state court judge declared a mistrial in a $700 million class action against Altria Group's Philip Morris. The jury split 8-4 for the plaintiffs on claims that the tobacco company violated state law by advertising its cigarettes as "light."

Louis Vuitton has been drawing criticism of late over its aggressive trademark enforcement efforts. But the luxury goods maker seems be winning over the one person who matters most in its current spat with Hyundai over the famous toile monogram: U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel.

You couldn't exactly call IGT's Las Vegas patent suit against rival gaming machine maker Bally a success: IGT's patent claims have all been tossed. But thanks to an unusual reconsideration of summary judgment by the judge overseeing the case, IGT at least won't have to face Bally's antitrust and Lanham Act counterclaims.