Following yesterday's surprising announcement that patent troll firm NTP is taking portable computing pioneer Palm to court over alleged IP infringement, the PDA and smartphone manufacturer has fired back with a statement detailing its position on the matter. While Palm corroborates NTP's assertion that the latter company had previously approached it about licensing the patents in question, it points out that all seven of them are still undergoing re-examination by the US Patent and Trademark Office, and all signs point to them being ruled invalid once the inquiry is complete. Therefore, Sunnyvale-based Palm has promised to "defend itself vigorously against the attempted misuse of the patent and judicial systems," which is the diplomatic way of saying that NTP won't see one red cent unless they pry it from Palm's cold, dead hands. Since the RIM / NTP fiasco took quite some time to wind its way through the courts, it seems that Palm is making the smart move here by stringing this along until the USPTO makes its final decision, but there's one thing it needs to bear in mind: NTP's got half a billion dollars to blow on legal fees, and since it doesn't actually do anything besides sue people, it can focus all of its energy and resources on this amusing but unhealthy lawsuit addiction.