Or are they just trying to get some good old' fashioned news plugs world-wide ? Well, either way it works. Ultra Products, Inc. is trying its hand at that most glorious of corporate traditions: suing the pants off one's competition. The maker of computer components is taking 22 -- yes, twenty two! -- of their competitors to court, claiming to have a patent for modular power supplies since November of 2006.

Ultra says they sent several warnings to the companies about the violations and is asking for the legal maximum of three times the damages. The suit actually doesn't accuse the companies of violating the patent, but of being an accomplice to end users who are violating the patent. Oh, and unless we're missing something here, Hewlett Packard filed a modular power supply patent in 2000 -- we certainly recall Screen Savers covering the devices way back in '99.

Pathetic.