"UK mobile phone handset maker Sendo has settled its patent infringement lawsuit against Orange, agreeing to contribute to Orange's legal costs. Sendo has withdrawn the lawsuit, but the terms of the settlement remain confidential, according to Sendo."

"The lawsuit was filed last month, as part of the fallout of a failed smartphone project developed by Microsoft and Sendo. In a separate and ongoing lawsuit against Microsoft, Sendo alleged that the software giant stole Sendo technology and gave it to other smartphone manufacturing partners, of which one is Taiwan's High Tech Computer (HTC). HTC is the manufacturer of the SPV, as well as O2's xda wireless handheld computer and other handheld devices."

"The handset maker said that the lawsuit against Orange centres on a patent relating to miniaturisation in the SPV's circuit-board design. The lawsuit was filed in the High Court of Justice in London."

"Sendo sued Orange rather than HTC because its circuit-board patent only covers the UK, but the company has applied for the same patent in other territories worldwide, a Sendo spokeswoman told ZDNet UK."

In addition to the above information from ZDNet, netimperative.com is reporting that this news is related to the fact that Texas Instruments (who manufacture the chip used in the HTC Smartphones) licensed unspecified smartphone-related patents from Sendo last week.

Note that the lawsuits between Microsoft and Sendo continue with no end in sight. The licensing deal between TI and Sendo combined with Sendo dropping the lawsuit against Orange may have an interesting side effect. If TI is acknowledging that they infringed on Sendo's patents, then it would appear that Sendo's claims against Microsoft for sharing Sendo's intellectual property with other partners are at least partially validated.