Blackberry maker settles legal dispute
RIM pays its way to be able to continue to produce mobile email device
A legal threat hanging over the BlackBerry email device has been lifted, after the device's maker paid a $450million settlement.
NTP, a privately-held American company, had taken the manufacturer, Research in Motion, to court, arguing RIM had infringed its patents.
Two US courts sided with NTP, and a Federal appeals court upheld its claims, although it stayed an injunction that would have prevented RIM from selling the Blackberry device in the United States.
NTP and RIM have now reached an agreement that RIM will pay $450million in return for the rights to continue to produce its products.
That will include BlackBerries resold through carriers and its Blackberry client, which is built into other mobile devices.
"NTP will grant RIM and its customers an unfettered right to continue its BlackBerry-related wireless business without further interference from NTP or its patents," RIM said in a statement.
Although the Court action only covered the US, the legal action had threatened RIM's rapidly growing global footprint.
The two companies are thrashing out the final details of the settlement over the next two weeks.
NTP's actions are not the only legal challenge in the growing market for mobile email.
Visto, a Californian company which provides push-email solutions for corporates, currently has two cases running against its rivals Seven Networks and Smartner.
NTP's patents derive from work carried out by its founder Thomas Campana at AT&T as long ago as the 1980s.
External Links
Visto files claims, from our sister publication Communications News
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