A crack of sanity has broken through the dysfunctional and deeply flawed U.S. software patent regime, with a U.S. district court ruling late Monday denying Apple Inc.’s request to permanently ban 26 Samsung phones from the U.S. market. Then, a Samsung official said the company would withdraw its own suit to try to ban the sale of Apple products in Europe. Is there reason to hope for a ceasefire agreement in the crazy patent war that has diseased the entire computing industry ?