Now just how the heck did this slip by us? Things have gone wacky at Imatec, the company that sued Apple for patent infringement in the development of ColorSync. In case you've forgotten, Imatec (which we assumed to consist entirely of CEO Dr. Hanoch Shalit and maybe his secretary) was trying for $1.1 billion, with the possibility of triple damages because Apple allegedly infringed Imatec's patents on purpose. The case ended a few months ago with the judge damn near laughing the suit out of court, ruling not only that Apple did not infringe those patents, but also that the patents in question didn't even belong to Shalit/Imatec in the first place. It was a real hoot, matched only in hilarity by Hanoch's incessant inane press releases issued almost daily during the course of the case.

Well, here's the latest from Imatecland: as faithful viewer Jesse Rusak pointed out, the company issued one of its incomparable press releases about a week ago announcing that it was buying another company. We know, we know-- you could have knocked us over with a feather. Considering Imatec had never made a product or actually generated any real income over the course of its entire existence, we couldn't help but wonder just what kind of company it could buy; did the kid who mows Hanoch's lawn incorporate, or something? But as a matter of fact, Imatec's buying some outfit called Sequel Technology Corporation for "15 million shares" of Imatec stock. (That's worth roughly $15 million.) In addition, Imatec will take on Sequel's liabilities (about $2 million), lend them $500,000 to "repay certain outstanding indebtedness," and-- here's the kicker-- Hanoch is resigning.

That's right, our old buddy Hanoch is out on the street. Don't cry too hard for him, though-- his termination package includes $500,000 and "all of Imatec's existing intellectual property." You know, like those patents. The ones he didn't own in the first place. In any event, he's walking away with a cool half mil in his back pocket, so he's not exactly hurting for cash. And between his extraordinary natural talent and wealth of experience in the realm of crafting press releases and his flair for publicity (like say, suing a huge, visible company for billions of dollars in a transparent grab for cash and attention), we have to assume he should have no trouble landing a top-notch job in the PR industry.

Whatever's left of Imatec, then, is presumably getting out of the color management business while the getting's good; Hanoch's taking the intellectual property, and Sequel is entirely an "Internet Resource Management" company, whatever the heck that is. Does this mean we can safely assume that Imatec's appeal of the billion-dollar lawsuit has gone nowhere? Can we close the book on this sordid chapter in Apple's legal history? Or is Hanoch just going to go set up another "company" and give it another try? After all, the best villains always return...