Volume IV

Issue : 5: March 9, 2006

• Yahoo! Restricts Bids on Competitors Trade marked Keywords
• Missouri Attorney General Targets Another Cell Phone Records Provider
• IBMs New Consumer Identity Protection Program
• Vonage Canada Complains About "VoIP Tax"
• FTC Settles with Cardsystems over Data Breach
• Toronto Hydro Plans Wireless Internet Access for Downtown
• RIM Concludes Patent Battle With $612.5M Payment to NTP
• Alberta Privacy Commissioner Issues Report on Outsourcing

Home > Volume IV > Issue 5: March 9, 2006 > RIM Concludes Patent Battle With $612.5M Payment to NTP

RIM Concludes Patent Battle With $612.5M Payment to NTP

Research In Motion Limited’s (RIM) long running battle with patent holding company, NTP, concluded last Friday with the announcement that RIM has agreed to pay NTP US$612.5M to settle the patent infringement dispute and to receive a license for itself and its customers for the future.

NTP’s patents remain rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office pursuant to re-examination proceedings. However, RIM has confirmed that NTP will keep the entire amount, even if the patents are finally ruled invalid. With the settlement, RIM avoids having to introduce any workaround, and maintains continuity in its service to its largest market.

The future for RIM is clearer than that for NTP. RIM faces challenges in the marketplace from competitors and the long-delayed arrival of higher-speed wireless networks. But NTP’s only play is in the courts. Who may it pursue next?

For additional information, visit:

http://news.com.com/2100-1047_3-6046573.html

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/14011881.htm