IBM Confirms Settlement: International Business Machines Corp....

IBM Confirms Settlement: International Business Machines Corp. confirmed that it has agreed to settle a $100-million lawsuit charging that its personal computers violated a basic patent on word processing held by Berkeley Limited Partnership, a small Rockville, Md.-based company. The settlement calls for IBM to acquire the patent held by Berkeley Limited, IBM spokeswoman Cynthia Stevens said. She declined to comment on how much if anything IBM was paying Berkeley. Berkeley had sought more than $100 million in lost royalties from IBM and an injunction preventing IBM for making or selling personal computers until the expiration of its patent on Oct. 31.