The Unofficial BlackBerry Weblog
Do a quick search here on RIMarkable for NTP and you will find now less than 4 dozen posts detailing the biggest patent infringement case in U.S. history. We thought that our days of talking about NTP were behind us when RIM settled with the patent holding firm back in 2006 for $612.5 million, however, as Al Sacco from CIO.com points out, the RIM / NTP patent case has taken a turn.
[Read more…] about The NTP / Research In Motion Patent Dispute Still Not Over
NTP is back in the news today, however, believe it or not, it isn’t because they are suing someone over patent infringement. This time the shoe is on the other foot as NTP is the defendant in a patent infringement case.
Oren Tavory, a 43 year old software developer living in West Palm Beach, FL. filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va. requesting that a judge issue a court order naming him as co-inventor on seven NTP patents and accusing NTP of copyright infringement and unjust enrichment.
[Read more…] about NTP Gets a Taste of Its Own Medicine
Every BlackBerry users favorite Patent holding company, NTP, is back at it again. This time, however, they aren’t going after Research in Motion. They are going after RIM’s arch nemeses Palm.
NTP has filed a lawsuit alleging that Palm’s Treo infringes on patents that they hold. If you remember Research in Motion paid a settlement of $612.5 million at the end of it’s legal battle with NTP that went on for years. NTP may actually have a tougher road to go as the U.S. Supreme Court has put restrictions in place that prevents an injunction, the $612.5 million thorn in RIM’s side, from be used to force a company to settle out of court before the infringing company exhausts all of it’s appeals.
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There is an interesting interview of Good Technology John Friend over on GCN this morning about the NTP / Research in Motion patent settlement.
Even though Good made ground on RIM while they were bogged down in legal woes with NTP, Friend wasn’t very pleased with the whole patent mess.
You’re talking to someone who has studied those patents. In the case of NTP, their patents were extremely confusing to understand, and some people have even told me that they may have been written that way on purpose.
If a company invents something and finds a commercial use for it, they should be protected. … Somewhere you have to draw a line if you invent something but never reduce it to commercial success.
Read the full interview here…
I just did a search for NTP here on RIMarkable and we have mentioned NTP in some capacity in 67 different posts. That is over 10% of our 570 or so posts. I am sure that we will mention NTP many more times, however, the frequency will undoubtedly decrease over time.
We don’t want the number of posts that we put out to decrease by 10% so now that RIM and NTP have settled what should we blog about? This is your chance to tell us what BlackBerry related posts you would like to see here on RIMarkable. The comment section is open. Let us know what type of content you would like to see.
Just one short week after Judge James R. Spencer decided not to impose an injunction against BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and warned both RIM and NTP to settle their long going legal battle over patent infringement out of court or he would do it for them, the two companies have decided to settle.
Research in Motion has paid NTP $612.5 million in a “full and final settlement of all claims” and will not have to pay any future royalties. This settlement also gives any of RIM’s partners full patent peace and assurance that NTP will never come after them.
Judge James R. Spencer decided not to enforce an injunction against BlackBerry maker Research in Motion that would prevent the PDA leader from selling BlackBerry devices or service in the United States but warned both NTP, the Virgina based patent holding company that owns 5 patents that Research in Motion was found guilty of infringing upon, and RIM to settle out of court before he would be forced to do it for them in court as a matter of law.
Judge Spencer’s comments made it clear that NTP and RIM should get together and settle this thing, however, I think that we may be farther away from a settlement now, then we were back before the hearing.
As the BlackBerry hearing was going on last Friday the United States Patent and Trademark Office was busy invalidating the last three of the five NTP patents RIM was found guilty of infringement. The first two fell on the preceding two days. In an interview just after the hearing, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie pointed out several times that the NTP patents are “absolutely going away”. Balsillie didn’t categorically say that RIM will not settle with NTP, but, he alluded to the possibility very strongly.
If there is one thing that we know for sure, this thing is definitely not over.
Here is what Judge James R. Spencer had to say after handing down his ruling, or, lack there of, in the NTP vs. Research in Motion patent case.
The hallmark of sanity is that one remains firmly tethered to reality.
And one unfortunate reality for RIM, and one that they would just as soon forget or ignore, is that in this very courtroom there was a trial, a jury was selected, a trial was carried out for a period of weeks, and evidence was received, and the jury heard arguments from some of the best legal talents that money can buy. And when all was said and done, they decided that RIM had infringed NTP’s patent, and that the infringement was willful.The jury consisted of 12 men and women, tried and true citizens of this district, and I can assure you that the citizens of this judicial district and the Commonwealth of Virginia are not foolish or frivolous when it comes to the matter of fixing legal liability. After all of the appeals, the petitions, the politics, the lobbying, this central truth, this reality of the jury verdict has not changed in any essential or substantive way.
[Read more…] about Judge James R. Spencer’s comments on the NTP vs. RIM patent case
Just 2 days ago the first of five NTP patents that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion was found guilty of infringing upon was rejected on final review by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the second one fell yesterday. This morning Research in Motion has confirmed that it has received a copy the Final Office Action that states that the USPTO maintains the outright and complete rejection of all claims in the patents.
Although NTP can appeal this decision by the USPTO, it should be noted that never in U.S. history has a patent that was rejected on final review been overturned on appeal.
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Judge James R. Spencer has basically left things as they were in the NTP vs. Reserach in Motion patent infringement case. Hey has issued a warning in unmistakable language that the two companies need to settle this out of court or he is going to do it for them, and they won’t like it if he does.
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