by , 2:00 PM EDT, May 18th, 2005

ABC News Online's Australian Web site is reporting on Wednesday that Apple is joining Microsoft, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Intel and Netgear in the fight to break the U.S. patents on wireless technology held by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). The government entity received a patent on wireless LAN technology in 1996, which means that any company creating and selling Wi-Fi devices, such as Apple's AirPort Extreme, must pay CSIRO royalties on the revenue.

In February, CSIRO initiated a court case against the Japanese company Buffalo Technology, which had stopped paying the licensing fees for the technology. Now Apple and the five other companies want a judge to rule that CSIRO's patent is invalid and that none of them are in violation of it. According to a report on The Inquirer's Web site, Dell and Intel filed one case together while the other companies banded together to file their own, similar suit, with Microsoft listed as the lead plaintiff.

CSIRO says that its licensing terms are reasonable and non-discriminatory and that it is determined to defend its patents.