Acticon Technologies on Monday said it has resolved patent infringement claims against Dell regarding so-called smart connector devices, although Dell itself did not make the products that used the patents. Acticon, owned by General Patent Corporation International (GPCI), owns four U.S. patents and one Taiwanese patent related to PC cards and other connector devices used in mobile computer communication, networking, and instrumentation control. Dell has now purchased licensing rights for the patents, which are used in products Dell distributes from other manufacturers. The case never went to court. Dell joins IBM, Sony, Motorola, 3Com, and 124 other companies that have purchased licensing agreements from Acticon. But Dell did not actively infringe on Acticon’s patents. GPCI and Acticon, both based in Suffern, New York, claimed that Dell purchased these devices from manufacturers that made them without paying royalties to Acticon. “Dell was very cooperative and responded to our offer to them” to settle the case amicably, said GPCI CEO Alexander Poltorak. “We’ve been litigating these patents for many years.”