IBM is having to walk such a fine line between winning all that is due to it for its personal computer patents and so putting off potential cloners of the PS/2 that the box becomes a premium product for dyed in the Blue wool users only that it is having to bend in patent negotiations in order to reach agreements at all. The company says it plans shortly to issue guidelines on its patent policies, and meantime will anyway not try to collect fees on Micro Channel patents that have yet to be awarded, which suggests that cloners will have between a year and two years’ grace on those before IBM sends it its bill for them. Companies say that IBM’s approach and tone is much more conciliatory.