A federal judge has ruled that a $450m settlement between patent holding US firm NTP Software and Blackberry maker Research in Motion (RIM) was not valid.
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US District Judge James Spencer could now reissue an injunction that could shut down the Blackberry service in the US.
An injunction could be potentially disastrous for RIM, which derives 70% of its revenue from Blackberry sales in the US.
However, Judge Spencer has postponed any immediate action against RIM, leaving lawyers for both firms to sort out a hearing date.
Childish accusation? Or do you have anything to back that up? The simple fact is that the patent has been found to be valid and infringed. Would you do away with the patent system?
Yeah, that's really the only "interesting" part of this whole legal battle, that every blackberry device in the US might suddenly stop working. However, a bit of reading reveals a few other details:
Blackberry claims to have a software update that's non-infringing.
They had a settlement, and may well have one again.
Even the paten battle isn't over yet, as the US Patent Office had ruled that some of the patents are possibly not valid.
IMHO, only the lawyers are going to get rich on this one, and it's going to be _years_ before it's settled to the point where NTP goes away or RIM settles with them again.
And once again we see a unproductive parasite by the name of NTP Inc supping off a ficticious claim and the ignorant US Justice system playing the game. Wonder how much payout this Judge Spencer is getting!
That's not a _simple_ answer. The patent has _not_ been found valid in most of the world. Injunctions have been denied elsewhere. Many would like to see something done about the American patent system, that routinely grants patents for impossible models, prior art and just plain stupidity.
Appears that the US Patent Office doesnot agree with NTPs case. Seems tome that NTP Inc. is just trying to cash in on a chance. Why have they not gone after Amateur operators who have been using the same principles for years before the cell phone was even invented? ... or the US Army/Navy who have also used the same processes.
Thing is that NTP has just parked itself and then feeds off the work of others. If an individual or group patent something, then they should do something with it. If not, then they lose it.
NTP has described a revised settlement offer made by legal rival Research in Motion (RIM) as "unacceptable" and told the world the two companies are not talking to each other. [MORE]
"US Patent Office rejects remaining NTP vs RIM patent"
The US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected another patent owned by Research in Motion sparring partner NTP, effectively rendering invalid all eight patents RIM was judged to have infringed in whole or in part.
The USPTO's ruling was made public last week, though it's merely a preliminary judgement, not the last word on the matter. A final, categorical ruling could be some way off - the wheels of the USPTO grind exceeding slow, it seems. In June, the USPTO issued preliminary rejections of seven of eight patents that underpinned NTP's legal action against RIM, and it has yet to issue a final verdict on any of them.
The latest ruling was made after the USPTO concurred with claims that techniques detailed in the NTP patent had already been used by another company.
NTP has said all it needs to prevail is a single claim made in just one patent, and until the USPTO formally invalidates the patents it has published preliminary findings for, NTP has a case RIM must answer. No wonder RIM wants to play a waiting game, in the hope the patents NTP accuses it of infringing - and which lower and appeals courts have ruled it did infringe - cease to exist.
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