Last Friday afternoon, a San Francisco jury ruled that Aureal's Vortex chips do not infringe on a Creative Labs patent, clearing the Fremont, Calif., company from a long-standing lawsuit. Originally filed by Creative Labs in February 1998, a day after Aureal announced Vortex design wins with Dell Computers, the suit claimed that Aureal infringed on Creative patent 5,342,990 (titled "digital sampling instrument employing cache-memory") in designing its audio chip.

　　"Aureal has said from the start that the Vortex products do not infringe on the patent and that the case is motivated by Creative's need to diminish competition in the marketplace at all costs," said Aureal CEO and president Kip Kokinakis. "It is a great victory for Aureal, but also a victory for innovation and competition that we did not yield to a company with vast resources and an intent to eliminate our ability to bring new and exciting products to the market."

　　However, Creative isn't prepared to accept the ruling and walk away, as the company has announced that it will appeal the court's decision. Meanwhile, Aureal has a patent infringement suit against Creative Labs and is seeking damages and an injunction against sales of the Sound Blaster Live! products. As usual, we'll keep you abreast of all the latest happenings.