Jim Etheridge

BOSTON—As the new year began, the war of words between Waltham, MA-based Harlequin and Foster City, CA-based Electronics for Imaging (EFI), heated up. On the same day that Harlequin filed a lawsuit in United States District Court here claiming that EFI has violated a federal law that governs false advertising, the U.S. District Court in San Francisco ruled in EFI's favor in its patent infringement lawsuit against Harlequin. The San Francisco court ruled for EFI on all 17 issues raised by Harlequin. EFI officials say the San Francisco court's rulings pave the way for EFI to fully press its infringement case against Harlequin.