WASHINGTON—Research In Motion Ltd. dodged a bullet as a U.S. District Court judge stopped short of ordering an immediate shutdown in service to U.S. BlackBerry users.
Judge James Spencer criticized both RIM and patent-holder NTP Inc. for failing to settle the dispute, saying he will decide later whether to issue an injunction that would kill service to BlackBerry subscribers. Spencer added, however, that RIM had clearly infringed on NTP’s patents, and said he will probably rule first on how much money NTP is owed in damages.
NTP during the hearing asked Spencer to order RIM to pay $126 million for infringing on its patents.
Shares of RIM jumped $5.80, or 8 percent, on the news, trading at $75.33 on the Nasdaq immediate following the hearing.
The decision not only allows RIM to continue service to 70 percent of its subscriber base, it also means the company isn’t yet forced to deploy its “workaround” software that skirts NTP’s proprietary technology. Such a measure could result in service disruptions and would require 2 million man-hours to implement, RIM conceded during the hearing.
Meanwhile, RIM said it received word that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a final rejection of a second NTP patent at the heart of the case. The move marks the third patent to be ultimately rejected by the office during its high-profile review of NTP’s claims.
While the patent office could ultimately nullify all of NTP’s patents in question, Spencer indicated he will not wait for the completion of the review, citing possible NTP appeals that could take years to resolve.
