NCR sued in 2001, claiming that over 20 years previously it had designed "a revolutionary new device and system for handling and transmitting data" small enough to fit in the user's hand. NCR, formerly known as National Cash Register, alleged that its design incorporated many of the same tools found in the popular Palm and Handspring PDAs.
The lawsuit also claimed that Palm and Handspring knew of the NCR patent but decided not to seek licences.
The case was dismissed in July 2002. At the time, the federal Judge said that NCR's patents did not apply to either Palm's or Handspring's products or technology. NCR appealed, but in September 2003, Judge Kent Jordan upheld the Delaware district court ruling, and dismissed the case against Palm and Handspring.
NCR appealed again, and last Thursday Judges Haldane Robert Mayer, Randall Rader and Alvin Schall ruled that Palm and Handspring, which became palmOne in late 2003, had committed no patent infringements.