There was a time when E-Pass Technologies had Palm on the defensive, accusing the company of patent infringement on its popular handheld devices and seeking royalties of untold proportion.

Today the tables have turned. Palm and other defendants that E-Pass has sued are going hard after the inventor’s patent holding company for millions of dollars — even trying to uncover its assets in a recent motion — after a district court judge scolded E-Pass for its litigation conduct and awarded attorney fees to the defendants.