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Visto trumps Seven in courtroom, turns focus to RIM

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif.—Fresh from a courtroom victory against Seven Networks, Visto Corp. is setting its sights on a much bigger competitor—Research In Motion Ltd.

A jury in the federal court for the Eastern District of Texas Friday awarded Visto a $3.6 million judgment, finding Seven’s service violates five claims and three separate Visto patents. The patents regard methods for securely synchronizing information across a wireless network and remotely managing e-mail.

Seven said the verdict would not impact its customers and called attention to a review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that rejected two of Visto’s claims on a “non-final” basis.

Visto, meanwhile, said it will take on BlackBerry maker RIM, which dominates the mobile e-mail space. Visto attorneys filed a similar suit against RIM seeking an injunction and monetary damages.

“Our case against RIM is based on similar technology, law and patents as the case we have just won in federal court against Seven Networks,” said Brian Bogosian, Visto’s chief executive officer. “Under the law, which protects consumers from products that contain infringing technology, RIM should not be able to sell the BlackBerry system.”

“RIM has been monitoring Visto’s litigation against other companies in the industry and, based on prior art and actual products in market, RIM believes Visto’s patents are invalid,” RIM said in a statement.

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