Research in Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry, is fighting
for survival in a US Court of Appeals this week, desperate to
overturn an injunction blocking the sale of the must-have gadgets
in the US. The injunction has been stayed since last August,
pending this appeal.
The dispute relates to a lawsuit filed in November 2001 by NTP
Inc, a holding company which claimed that certain RIM products were
infringing on patents covering a method of using radio frequency
wireless communications in e-mail systems.
In November 2002 a jury found in favour of NTP and awarded it
$23 million, subject to an increase if the judge found that RIM
wilfully infringed NTP's patents. In August 2003 the judge did just
that, awarding aggravated damages of $53.7 million to NTP as a
result.
The judge also imposed an injunction on the mobile device maker,
prohibiting the company from selling those of its products,
software and services that use the wireless technology in question.
But the judge stayed the injunction pending the appeal that began
in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit yesterday.
According to Reuters, RIM's lawyer, Henrey Bunsow, told the
panel of three judges that there had been no infringement of the
patents, declaring, "That is not the BlackBerry system in any way,
shape or form".
In separate but related proceedings, the US Patent and Trademark
Office is re-examining the validity of NTP's patents.
The Court of Appeals is not expected to issue its ruling for
weeks, according to Reuters.
