pseudofan
11-30-2005, 06:22 PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10265694/
BlackBerry shutdown closer after ruling
Judge deals Research In Motion blow in patent settlement case
RIM’s BlackBerry device (shown here) competes with Palm’s Treo 650 smartphone, with both offering phone and e-mail service, access to personal calendars and the Internet.
Updated: 1:47 p.m. ET Nov. 30, 2005
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. was pushed closer to a possible shutdown of its popular U.S. mobile e-mail service after a judge refused to delay a patent infringement case.
U.S. District Judge James Spencer Wednesday ruled invalid a $450 million settlement between RIM and NTP Inc., a small patent holding firm of McLean, Va., that maintains the technology behind the popular BlackBerry infringes on its patents.
Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM had sought to uphold the $450 million agreement reached earlier this year that NTP said was never finalized.
Spencer’s decisions raise more uncertainties for BlackBerry users in the United States, where most of the company’s 3.65 million customers are based. The judge could next consider re-issuing an injunction that threatens to shut down BlackBerry service in this country. Spencer granted an injunction in 2003 after the patent-holding company successfully sued RIM in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia, but the ruling was stayed pending appeal.
RIM repeated that it will implement a software “workaround” if the court issues an injunction to shut down its U.S. service.
“RIM has also been preparing software workaround designs which it intends to implement if necessary to maintain the operation of BlackBerry services in the United States. Further details will be made available if such implementation becomes necessary,” the company said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Spencer said he would request briefs and set a hearing date to deal with the remaining issues of injunctive relief and appropriate damages against RIM.
“Valid patents would be rendered meaningless if an infringing party were allowed to circumvent the patents’ enforcement by incessantly delaying and prolonging court proceedings, which have already resulted in a finding of infringement,” Spencer said in his ruling.
An attorney for RIM did not immediately return a telephone message.
James Wallace Jr., an attorney for NTP, said the ruling "...indicates that Judge Spencer is going to move swiftly to conclude the case. We would hope that these developments would bring the parties back to the table to resolve this matter.”
When asked whether U.S. BlackBerry users might see an end to their service, Wallace remarked that RIM officials “own the keys to their own jail.”
Some analysts and industry observers expect RIM could be backed into a corner and forced to settle for a sum as high as $1 billion.
Judge Spencer has grown impatient with the long-running patent case. During a Nov. 9 hearing, he said that he had spent enough of his “time and life involved with NTP and RIM.” On Wednesday, he expressed similar frustration.
“Drawn out discovery disputes, claim construction issues, multiple motions for summary judgment, countless pretrial motions, and many evidentiary objections set the tone for a complex, contentions path toward a resolution of this case,” Spencer wrote in his opinion.
NTP was co-founded by Thomas Campana Jr., a Chicago-area engineer who in 1990 created a system to send e-mails between computers and wireless devices. He helped form NTP to protect his work.
In 2002, a federal jury in Richmond agreed that RIM had infringed on NTP’s patents and awarded the smaller company 5.7 percent of U.S. BlackBerry sales. Spencer increased that rate to 8.55 percent. The amount of damages and fees had reached $210 million at last count.
While the ruling was a blow to RIM, shares of handheld computer and smartphone maker Palm Inc. jumped on news of the judge’s decision.
RIM’s BlackBerry device competes with Palm’s Treo 650 smartphone, with both offering phone and e-mail service, access to personal calendars and the Internet.
“Regardless of the outcome of this case, today’s ruling is going to mean a market share loss for BlackBerry and a gain for Palm,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Blackberry Users are snobs anyway..... :pctoss
BlackBerry shutdown closer after ruling
Judge deals Research In Motion blow in patent settlement case
RIM’s BlackBerry device (shown here) competes with Palm’s Treo 650 smartphone, with both offering phone and e-mail service, access to personal calendars and the Internet.
Updated: 1:47 p.m. ET Nov. 30, 2005
BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. was pushed closer to a possible shutdown of its popular U.S. mobile e-mail service after a judge refused to delay a patent infringement case.
U.S. District Judge James Spencer Wednesday ruled invalid a $450 million settlement between RIM and NTP Inc., a small patent holding firm of McLean, Va., that maintains the technology behind the popular BlackBerry infringes on its patents.
Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM had sought to uphold the $450 million agreement reached earlier this year that NTP said was never finalized.
Spencer’s decisions raise more uncertainties for BlackBerry users in the United States, where most of the company’s 3.65 million customers are based. The judge could next consider re-issuing an injunction that threatens to shut down BlackBerry service in this country. Spencer granted an injunction in 2003 after the patent-holding company successfully sued RIM in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Virginia, but the ruling was stayed pending appeal.
RIM repeated that it will implement a software “workaround” if the court issues an injunction to shut down its U.S. service.
“RIM has also been preparing software workaround designs which it intends to implement if necessary to maintain the operation of BlackBerry services in the United States. Further details will be made available if such implementation becomes necessary,” the company said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Spencer said he would request briefs and set a hearing date to deal with the remaining issues of injunctive relief and appropriate damages against RIM.
“Valid patents would be rendered meaningless if an infringing party were allowed to circumvent the patents’ enforcement by incessantly delaying and prolonging court proceedings, which have already resulted in a finding of infringement,” Spencer said in his ruling.
An attorney for RIM did not immediately return a telephone message.
James Wallace Jr., an attorney for NTP, said the ruling "...indicates that Judge Spencer is going to move swiftly to conclude the case. We would hope that these developments would bring the parties back to the table to resolve this matter.”
When asked whether U.S. BlackBerry users might see an end to their service, Wallace remarked that RIM officials “own the keys to their own jail.”
Some analysts and industry observers expect RIM could be backed into a corner and forced to settle for a sum as high as $1 billion.
Judge Spencer has grown impatient with the long-running patent case. During a Nov. 9 hearing, he said that he had spent enough of his “time and life involved with NTP and RIM.” On Wednesday, he expressed similar frustration.
“Drawn out discovery disputes, claim construction issues, multiple motions for summary judgment, countless pretrial motions, and many evidentiary objections set the tone for a complex, contentions path toward a resolution of this case,” Spencer wrote in his opinion.
NTP was co-founded by Thomas Campana Jr., a Chicago-area engineer who in 1990 created a system to send e-mails between computers and wireless devices. He helped form NTP to protect his work.
In 2002, a federal jury in Richmond agreed that RIM had infringed on NTP’s patents and awarded the smaller company 5.7 percent of U.S. BlackBerry sales. Spencer increased that rate to 8.55 percent. The amount of damages and fees had reached $210 million at last count.
While the ruling was a blow to RIM, shares of handheld computer and smartphone maker Palm Inc. jumped on news of the judge’s decision.
RIM’s BlackBerry device competes with Palm’s Treo 650 smartphone, with both offering phone and e-mail service, access to personal calendars and the Internet.
“Regardless of the outcome of this case, today’s ruling is going to mean a market share loss for BlackBerry and a gain for Palm,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Asset Management.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Blackberry Users are snobs anyway..... :pctoss