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Yeah, I saw saw this, too.
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Sent from my Blackberry.
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 cir vent 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.....
Yeah, I saw saw this, too.
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Sent from my Blackberry.
some of your better work ShoogarBear.
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Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld
BOO on da bofe a yaz
FYI - You have your Blackberry set on "ducks."
Naw, it just stuttered when I hit a bu-bump in the road.
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Sent from my Blackberry.
man, and I was going to get either a Treo or a color Backberry for Christmas.
looks like the Treo is becoming a frontrunner.
I've been a Treo owner since the Treo 270, I currently have a Treo 600.
IMO:
Treo > Blackberry
I was in the market for a Blackberry when my 270 broke, but all of them look like those little electronic diaries that they make for pre-teen girls. So instead I bought the Treo 600.
I've got both the Treo 650 and the Blackberry 7250
the Treo is a better multimedia option
the Blackberry handsdown wins for me for its business attributes.
both are great phones, thank god I don't use the stinking piece of MOtorola V710 i used to have.
I agree, Johnny. Treo has a multiplicity of options and features. BlackBerry 7100 and 7250 are the best mail/phone machines I've used. Push technology with handy click and call numbers embedded in email messages. 7100 is lighter than the Treo, also.
I would guess this court case will end up as a settlement.
I would be stunned if it wasn't settled before an injunction. NTP has very little to gain by taking RIM out of the market or by further eroding their market share. 1b+ in cash and a continuing licensing stream for doing nothing (ongoing) would be hard to pass up.
I would miss my crackberry if I'm wrong.
BB 8700...its sweet!!.
after looking at it a tad more, I think Im going to go with the Treo 650, it has more multimedia goodies. I was looking for an email set-up with a good camera for video/pix.
and the Blackberry 7130e is a nice option, it has no camera.
where the Treo has less functionality as far as web browsing/email, it has the camera, and an MP3 player, along with an expansion slot for an SD card.
So about mid December, when my contract with Verizon is up, Ill renew for another year and get a serious phone upgrade!
Yeah if you want the Multimedia deal, then go with the Treo especially if you're with Verizon KEDA, and if you've been there a long time with them they'll give you a good deal on it..i got some "Loyalty" deal with them and got that Treo for less!
As for the Camera on the Treo, i'm not too impressed with it myself, but I really don't care for that feature anyways.
If you want a good email "Business" only machine that don't cater much to pix and mp3 then the Blackberry can't be beat.
They should just pay off the MFers and keep it going.
The Blacker the Berry, the sweeter ther juice
SMOKEY- "You know what they say, the older the berry the sweeter the juice"
CRAIG- "Nikka, thats the BLACKER the berry, the sweeter the juice"
SMOKEY- "Oh, she blacker then a muthafukka too."
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