Lost without a BlackBerry?

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  • Source:
    eWeek. 1/30/2006, Vol. 23 Issue 5, p11-12. 2p. 1 Color Photograph, 1 Illustration.
  • Additional Information
    • Subject Terms:
      LEGAL judgments; UNITED States. Supreme Court; RESEARCH In Motion Ltd.; NTP Inc.; PATENT law; BLACKBERRY (Smartphone); EMAIL system equipment; APPELLATE procedure; ACTIONS & defenses (Law)
    • Subject Terms:
      UNITED States
    • Abstract:
      The article reports that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal regarding the case of dispute between Research in Motion (RIM) Ltd. and NTP Inc. On January 23, 2006 the Supreme Court said that it would not hear an appeal in the ongoing dispute that has loomed over BlackBerry customers for years. After two days of this ruling a federal judge set a February 24 hearing date in the Eastern District Court of Virginia to consider a possible injunction that could shut down BlackBerry wireless e-mail service in the United States. The next turn of this battle is still in darkness. The background of this case reveals that the holding company NTP sued Canadian BlackBerry maker RIM in 2001 for alleged patent infringement on nine wireless e-mail patents. The U.S. District Judge James Spencer ruled in favor of NTP in the year 2003. He instructed RIM to halt its sales of BlackBerry devices and services in the United States until NTP's patents run out in 2012. In the meantime, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has indicated that it intends to reject all NTP's claims eventually, which would render the lawsuit null and void.