Remember the adage, what can go wrong, will go wrong?

We know we don't need to remind our readers of the perils of trial.  And though we never advise our clients to make a bad business deal to extricate themselves from a lawsuit, we continue to recommend that they seek business solutions to business problems before throwing their fate to the winds of trials.

This morning we're commending to our readers' attention Canon's recent devastating trial loss, courtesy of Reuters.

When Canon was sued by a small, money-losing U.S. technology firm two years ago, the dispute was over a patent license that had cost the Japanese electronics giant a one-time payment of $5.6 million.

But now that the lawsuit has caused Canon to lose the license, a fresh agreement with Texas-based Nano-Proprietary could be worth millions of dollars more, lawyers said.

Last week, a U.S. court ruled against Canon, saying the company breached its deal with Nano-Proprietary by trying to share the flat display technology with Toshiba.

The court's decision (PDF) is a major setback and perhaps an embarrassment for Tokyo-based Canon, the third-biggest patent owner in the United States.

"It seems strange Canon managed to go all the way to trial and lose," said Peter Godwin, a Tokyo-based partner at law firm Herbert Smith. "Assuming they were advised they were at risk, you'd expect a company of the size of Canon to have reached a settlement before that."

For the remainder of the story, click here.

For our commentary, read the following post.