Search Results for: NTP

On news that Judge James Spencer may not wait to hear the final outcome on the validity of 5 NTP patents that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion was found guilty on, the United States Department of Justice stated that…

The injunction would literally prevent RIM from providing the services that would be essential for the federal government, as well as state and local governments, to continue their use of the BlackBerry devices.

The DoJ wants 90 days notice before a U.S. District Court enforces any injunction that could potentially disrupt service to ensure that public workers can keep using BlackBerry devices. The DoJ also said the the extra time would allow the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reconsider the validity of 8 patents, 5 of which RIM was found guilty of infringement on. The Patent and Trademark office has already invalidated the patents held by NTP, however, NTP has appealed the ruling.

To make a long story short, it looks like RIM is going to get a bit more time before they are faced with a shutdown. This takes away NTP’s leverage that could have forced a settlement before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office makes it’s final decision on the validity of the patents. A few days ago I said that I didn’t think there was any way that a U.S. Court would enforce an injunction that would have such an adverse affect U.S. business. I never even really thought about it from a government standpoint.

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Tomorrow, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion goes to court again over the NTP patent infringement case. It is expected that RIM will ask the court to enforce a $450 million settlement agreement that fell apart back in the summer and that NTP will ask that the stay on the injunction against the sale of BlackBerry devices or operation of the BlackBerry network be allowed in the United States.

What do you RIMarkable readers think will happen if the injunction is actually enforced? Can you imagine the disruption to business in the United States if suddenly everyone’s BlackBerry stopped receiving mail? I know RIM says they have a backup plan to allow their service to run without infringing upon NTP’s patents but if it were as easy as flipping a switch, wouldn’t they have done that already? My guess is that it would be more than a small headache to switch to their backup plan.

I don’t think that there is any way that a U.S. court would enforce an injunction that would have such an adverse affect on U.S. business. Even if RIM is guilty as sin, which, I guess technically they are since they have already lost the case and are in the appeals process right now, there is no way that they would be shut down.

It should be noted that this is just my opinion and is not based on any facts or evidence. In fact my opinion could be contrary to facts and evidence as I have very little understanding of the law less what I get from CSI: Miami and Boston Legal. If you are looking for expert opinion from someone who actually went to law school as compared to someone who just went to school for biology and math, you may want to check the BlackBerry news tomorrow as I am sure this will be talked about by experts.

Next week on Nov. 9th, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion and Virginia based patent house NTP go back to court where it is expected that RIM asks that the previously agreed upon settlement of $450 million to NTP is enforced and that NTP asks that an injunction blocking the sales of BlackBerry devices and service in the United States is enforced.

Some analysts feel that no matter what happens, the stock price could go up. Merrill Lynch gives RIM’s stock (RIMM) a target of $85 dollars and a “buy” rating citing recent weakness in the stock as a buying opportunity. Others feel that a level of uncertainty could be removed if a ruling one way or the other is issued. If the settlement is enforced, RIM can get on with “Business as usual” If the stay on the injunction is lifted, RIM will undoubtedly look to weigh the cost of meeting NTP’s terms with the cost of moving to their backup plan of providing service without infringing on any of NTP’s patents.

Whatever happens, it should be a big week for Research in Motion.

Despite legal woes and increasing pressure from rivals like Microsoft, BlackBerry maker Research in Motion sits on top of the PDA market with over 25% share according to analyst firm Gartner.

Research in Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry devices, further extended its lead to 25 per cent of the overall PDA market, increasing shipments by 52.6 per cent year over year.

This is not too bad for a company that supposedly should be killed by every new PDA with email that comes out and that is about to be shut down by NTP over patent infringement on patents that the US Patents office says are invalid.

Research in Motion was denied again by the U.S. Supreme Court, this time losing an emergency Supreme Court appeal that would have put the NTP patent infringement case on hold while RIM appeals 5 counts of patent infringement that the Waterloo, Ontario based BlackBerry maker has already lost.

Many analyst say that there is a good chance that a guilty verdict could be overturned especially since the U.S. Patent Office has found all the patents that RIM was found guilty of infringement on to be invalid. The problem howerver, is that the company has already been found guilty and that there is an impending injunction from the sale or operation of BlackBerry service in the United States.

I just happened to notice that my last three posts are about devices other than those offered by Research in Motion. At first glance, one might think that is kind of odd seeing how this is The Official, Unofficial BlackBerry Weblog. At second glance, however, one would notice that two of the devices, have the ability to get email on the Research in Motion’s BlackBerry network, unless of course, you are on the continent where the BlackBerry was invented.

So, the question that begs to be answered is, “Why hasn’t Blackberry Connect caught on in North America?” Ususally when this question gets asked, you get answers ranging from “The carriers won’t support it” to “RIM is waiting to get things squared away with the NTP patent suite” to “Security.”

One theory that I haven’t heard as to why BlackBerry Connect hasn’t caught on in North America is becasue RIM makes over two thirds of it’s revenues from BlackBerry unit sales and seeing how more BlackBerry devices are sold in the U.S. and Canada than the rest of earth combined, RIM is going to milk the proprietary device cow until she is dry.

Now, this is just a theory and I could be and probably am way off base here, but the other theories just don’t make much sense to me any longer.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued another two preliminary rulings in favor of BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion.  Just a few days ago, another NTP patent claim was rejected bringing the total overturned claims to 5 of 8 and today’s overturned claims brings the grand total to 7 of 8 patents.  Needless to say, things aren’t looking so good for NTP as a ruling on the 8th and final claim is expected to reviewed soon. 

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