Legal AI's First Patent Fight Just Reached a Motion to Dismiss: Why Vendor IP Risk Became a Continuity Question for Mid-Market Firms in 2026

California legal AI company Eve is moving to dismiss a patent suit brought by rival AI.Law, arguing the asserted patent claims little more than applying ordinary AI to legal work. For mid-market firms, the case is less about who wins and more about a question nobody put in their vendor checklist: what happens to your matters, your billing, and your books if a point solution goes dark?