Dan Bricklin was recently an expert witness in the Hyperion vs. Outlooksoft case that was tried in the US District Court in Marshall, TX. Outlooksoft (the defendant) won – and Dan’s testimony was critical to invalidating the Hyperion patent.
Dan has two excellent essays up about this – his experience in the case and his general thoughts on Patent Litigation circa 2006. Dan is a remarkably clear thinker and excellent writer (as well as general software wizard and hugely nice guy) – if you are interested in software patents, these two essays are a must read.