Guy,
The CCD sensor is placed on a electronic circuit board. The firmware is used to control this circuit board. The M8 will use a completely different board and also a different type of battery, so it is not a cut and paste operation to switch from Imacon to Jenoptik.
Even if the contract lapses the Imacon will still have intellectual copyright to the firmware. I think Leica would need to make a mark II DM-R to get out of the Imacon relationship without paying through their noses.
The basic knowledge in the operation and control of a CCD, which Leica learned during the long gestation period of the DM-R has of course been reused for the M8, probably also why Leica feel more comfortable about their ability to deliver on the M8
Tim