Last March, patent holding company NTP extracted a $612.5 million settlement from BlackBerry maker Research in Motion following a multi-year patent battle which went all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Now, NTP has turned its attention to Palm, Inc., filing a patent infringement lawsuit against the PDA and smartphone maker in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Tag Archive: NTP
RIM Settles BlackBerry Case for $612.5 Mln
Canada’s Research in Motion announced today it has reached a $612.5 million, definitive settlement with NTP Inc. in the long-running, bitter patent dispute which has repeatedly threatened to shut down BlackBerry wireless service in the United States. According to RIM, “All terms of the agreement have been finalized and the litigation against RIM has been dismissed by a court order this afternoon.”
RIM’s $612.5 settlement
BlackBerry Dodges First Shutdown Bullet
At a critical court hearing in U.S. District Court today, Federal Judge James Spencer did not order Research In Motion’s BlackBerry wireless service to be shut down in the United States. However, he strongly urged Canada’s RIM and patent-holder NTP to settle their dispute. If no settlement is reached by next week, Judge Spencer indicated he would issue an injunction which wasn’t likely to please either company.
NTP Says RIM Mischaracterizing its Patents
The day before Canadian BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and patent holding company NTP are set to go before a federal judge who may order the U.S. shutdown of the BlackBerry service, the war of words between the two camps has escalated. In a statement to the press today, NTP claims RIM has “inaccurately characterized” NTP’s patents as invalid.
NTP acknowledges the patents are undergoing a reexamination process, but asserts that, in legal terms, none of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s actions to date
RIM Buoyed by USPTO Decisions, Court Delay
Canada’s Blackberry maker Research In Motion is hoping its future is looking brighter following recent decisions from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the court hearing the patent infringement case brought against it by NTP.
Patent holding company NTP successfully sued RIM for infringement in 2002 and won an injunction in 2003 to shut down RIM’s wireless service in the United States. RIM won a stay of the injunction as the company embarked on a lengthy appeal process which is now all but exhausted. And RIM’s prospects in the U.S. got even darker at the end of November when the judge hearing the case ruled a settlement agreement between NTP and RIM was invalid, raising fears the originally network shutdown ordered by the court would actually be carried out or that RIM would have to reach a very pricy settlement with NTP in a big hurry.
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