To have different angle to this debate: Commodore was stupid enough to steal someone's intellectual property.
First of all you can't steal "intellectual property" because it's not property in the first place. That's why patents and copyright are created through separate laws and not covered by property law at all.
Secondly, this patent came totally out of left field and nobody thought there'd be any chance in hell it'd be enforcable, because it fails on every aspects of the legal requirements for getting a patent: It's obvious to someone trained in the field, and there was plenty of prior art.
Most likely it would've been invalidated if the court battles around it had gone to completion.
What it illustrates is how completely ridiculous the patent system is, and how badly it needs an overhaul - it's the largest *threat* to innovation we have.
