The high-stakes patent dispute between HTC and Apple has become a stalemate, with recent rulings favoring first one company, then the other -- though Apple may be slightly ahead overall in terms of leverage. Phone maker HTC agreed to buy S3 Graphics Company for $300 million just days after the latter firm scored a rare win over Apple in a preliminary ITC ruling, but two weeks later another ITC judge found in favor of Apple on a different set of patent violations.
