To avoid a patent violation, all Palm has to do is slightly change the coding for the multi-touch screen. There is an asus netbook out right now that has a multitouch screen. We haven't heard any rumblings from Apple about this.
For example, not so much with technology, but ever wonder how all these drugs that do the same thing come out? There are many statin drugs (cholesterol lower meds) on the market that all do the exact same thing. They all have patents on them. The way that they avoid a patent violation is they very very slightly change the molecular formula or structure of the chemical. They can't change it too much or it won't bind the enzyme it has to inhibit. Look at any other technology; cars, TVs, stereos, etc. They all have their own proprietary patented feature that do the same thing, but there are no violations per se.
