Cascades Ventures Inc.--a descendant of the "original patent troll"--may have reached the end of its campaign against the self-described troll-fighter RPX Corporation and a quintet of tech companies that allegedly orchestrated an illegal boycott of Cascades's patents.

Rather than spend eight weeks defending their client in front of a Salt Lake City jury, DLA Piper and Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr guided Pfizer Inc. to a $450 million settlement with Brigham Young University. The deal brings an end to a hard-fought case in which BYU initially sought billions, and Pfizer cycled through three sets of lawyers.

For more than 40 years, California was out of synch with the U.S. Supreme Court, permitting defendants in state antitrust actions to argue that direct purchasers suffered no harm because they passed price increases on to consumers. With a ruling Monday that eliminates the pass-through defense, California's now in step with the federal courts.

In its infringement suit against three competitors, Fujitsu hoped to have some of the same magic in Judge Lucy Koh's courtroom that Apple enjoyed against Samsung. But after a two-week trial, jurors quickly rejected Fujitsu's claims.

The drug at issue, Yasmin, not only prevents pregnancy but also offers the desirable side effect of reducing bloating. But a federal district court ruled that Bayer's patented technique for increasing the absorption of a key ingredient was obvious, given the prior art.