POCKET CHANGE

Apple Pays $5M in Patent Settlement

To Taiwanese company in long-running suit.

Apple Inc. has reached a $5 million settlement in a patent infringement suit with Taiwanese touch-design company Elan Microelectronics Corp, which announced the news on Thursday. The company originally sued Apple in 2009 for two touch-related patent infringements, but the U.S. International Trade Commission ruled last June that Apple had not violated U.S. trade law. The relatively small $5 million settlement leaves Apple with one less patent dispute. Samsung, HTC, Motorola, and Kodak are among the bigger names going after the California tech giant, though The Wall Street Journal reported that Kodak is preparing to file for bankruptcy. Apple is also embroiled in a number of suits with Google Inc. over its Android, as the two companies duke it out for market share.