RIM staves off shutdown order

By Steve Malone

Posted on 27 Feb 2006 at 10:33

The three million Blackberry users in the United States can continue using their devices a judge said on Friday.

It had been feared that US District Judge James R. Spencer would order Blackberry manufacturer Research In Motion to cease all operations in the US, following the failure to have its appeal heard by the US Supreme Court.

Fearing that the judge would order a shutdown, RIM already had a contingency plan in preparation which would have meant changing the software in all of its devices to avoid the disputed technologies.

However, calling the RIM workaround 'inconsistent', the judge told both sides in the dispute to come to an agreement. 'I am surprised, absolutely surprised, that you have left this incredibly important decision to the court,' he said. 'I have always felt it was a business decision.' The shutdown order has now been delayed another week.

RIM has been buoyed by the news that by the US Patent and Trademark Office has rejected another of NTP's patents following re-examination. Patent #5,436,960 has now been finally rejected.

RIM says that all of the three patents remaining in dispute in the NTP vs. RIM litigation have now been rejected, based in part on prior art not considered in the 2002 trial.

Although NTP may appeal, RIM says the rejections reflect the final opinion of the Patent Office's Central Re examination Unit - that the three patents at issue in this case are invalid.