RIM and NTP settle BlackBerry patent lawsuit
It was starting to look really doubtful that Research In Motion was going to win the patent infringement lawsuit NTP brought against them (the last couple of court rulings didn't exactly go their way), and so rather than face the prospect of being barred from selling the BlackBerry in the US (NTP actually got an injunction to this effect, which RIM was able to get stayed pending appeal), they've announced this morning that they're settling the suit. The damage? $450 million dollars (US dollars, at that), and in exchange RIM gets a license from NTP to keep producing and selling the BlackBerry. Probably saved the company from paying out even more if they'd lost the case outright, but $450 million is some serious damage for a company that "only" made $365.9 million in its last reported quarter.
Filed under: Handhelds
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gillian White @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM
This is a huge deal for RIM. They needed to do this so that Blackberry Connect and Blackberry Built-In to become successful. Im sure a few carriers and other hardware manufactuers were a bit iffy about the legal issues that RIM was having in the States. To this point all of the Blackberry Connect handsets like the Siemens SK65, Nokia 6820, and Sony P910i was only released in Europe.
Phil @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM
I kind of wish NTP would've shut RIM down in the states.
Joey Geraci @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM
Why?
Mason @ Dec 19th 2005 12:12AM
Yeah really...why?