from the rimm/palm patent case: Look at where battling NTP got Research in Motion. Sure, RIM had the moral high ground, and their fight looked just. All indications were that RIM developed and produced its technology independently, and that NTP's claim was bogus. The U.S Patent Office struck down all of the patents under dispute in the RIM case. And although that decision is still subject to a potentially lengthy appeal, it looks like the patents are toast. But RIM was forced to settle anyway, and delaying the case for years only increased their costs. The lawsuit drained RIM's resources, put a big dent in sales, dragged down its stock price, cost the company millions of dollars in legal expenses and, of course, $612.5 million more in the settlement. Palm can't afford that kind of fight. The company's stock was trading at $15.62 Monday before news of the suit broke, down significantly from a 52-week high of $24.91, which it hit in April. Shares closed down 7.6% Monday at $14.24 and only gained back about 3% Tuesday. Palm was struggling before this happened and does not have the cash or resources of RIM--Palm's got just $527 million in cash, compared to the more than $1.2 billion RIM had before it settled. Palm should suck it up and pay off NTP before things get worse. Palm's playing tough for now, and Colligan, its CEO, told Reuters that NTP's patents were of "doubtful validity." I agree with him. But being right isn't enough. Blame the U.S. patent system: NTP has never produced a single product or done anything to promote commerce, but thanks to a lucky filing 14 years ago, it's been able to get filthy rich off the hard work of other companies. Admittedly, having to pay out isn't fair and would only serve to embolden NTP and leave it free to chase after the next deep-pocketed phone maker. That could be bad news for Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ), Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) or any number of mobile computing firms. But if I were a Palm stockholder, I'd want this over with before it blows up to RIM proportions. Better to pay off NTP and save management's attention for Palm's fundamental business problems. The lesson for the rest of us? RIM and Palm may have been screwed, but smart tech companies should be lobbying hard to make sure they're not a victim of this kind of patent bullying in the future.