Blackberry Lawsuit Gets Ugly

NTP is accusing Research in Motion (RIM) of playing dirty in a lawsuit that could decide the fate of the Blackberry pager.

In November, RIM lost a patent infringement suit brought against it by NTP Inc. A federal court ruled that RIM has infringed on five NTP patents related to wirelessly transferring email and ordered the company to pay $23.1 million.

The jury ruled that RIM knowingly infringed on the patents so the judge has the option of tripling the money the company has to pay. This will be decided at a hearing on February 28. At the same time, the judge will rule on a motion from NTP to shut RIM's wireless service down completely.

A New Twist

According to the New York Times, NTP has complained to the court that RIM has unfairly influenced the director of the Patent and Trademark Office, James E. Rogan. In late December, Mr. Rogan took the unusual step of ordered a re-examination of the five patents in question. There have only been 150 patent re-examinations requested by any head of the Patent and Trademark Office in the last 20 years.

RIM is expected to ask at the hearing on February 28 that any decision be postponed until after the re-examinations are complete, which could take over a year.

Congress Steps In

This case has been full of twists and turns. In January, the House of Representatives sent a request to the lawyers on both sides asking that nothing to done to stop RIM's wireless service because House members use it to communicate. The Congressmen are concerned that if NTP convinces the federal judge to shut RIM's service down, the House will be less able to stay in touch with each other, especially in an emergency.

The chief lawyer for NTP responded by saying that, if he and RIM's lawyers couldn't come to a settlement on licensing fees, he won't ask the court to shut down RIM's service until a replacement is ready.

Related Links

• Court Rules Blackberry Infringes on NTP Patents
• Congress Says “Save the Blackberry”
• The Legal Wars