The streaming TV service Aereo Inc. surely wants to focus on its do-or-die court battle with broadcasters. Unfortunately for Aereo and its backers, it keeps getting sucked into trademark battles with Alki David, the heir to a Greek shipping and bottling fortune who runs a competing service.

Former Intel in-houser Ron Epstein was determined to show you didn't need to file lawsuits to monetize patents. For five years he succeeded--but now he's in a whopper of a fight with his former partner. Somewhere, the trolls are smiling.

Billion-dollar jury verdicts have become as rare as the ivory-billed woodpecker. According to data compiled by Bloomberg News, juries did not issue a single verdict of more than $1 billion in 2008, and served up only one in 2007--a $1.5 billion IP award against Microsoft that was later set aside by the judge in the case. That's a marked decline from the previous 14 years when, according to Bloomberg, there were 26 verdicts over $1 billion, including six over $5 billion.

Why does Congress take the position that it doesn't have to recognize the privilege? Plus, a look back at how this issue played out before Congress in 2006.