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Blackberry Settles Its Patent Dispute

March 3, 2006

Blackberry • Another Patent Suit Against Blackberry • Blackberry Settles Its Patent Dispute • Judge Refuses to Shut Down Blackberry • Save The Blackberry, Government Urges • Future May Be Bleak for Blackberry Owners

The Blackberry stand-off is over. Research In Motion (RIM) has agreed to pay $612.5 million to settle its patent dispute with NTP Inc., removing the threat that Blackberry email service might be shut down.

Last week a federal judge in Virginia refused to issue an injunction that would have closed down Blackberry's email, but Judge James Spencer castigated RIM for not settling its patent dispute with NTP and warned that he might impose a settlement that would be more painful than any settlement.

In a statement today, RIM said it reached a "full and final settlement of all claims" including a perpetual license to use NTP patents. It said the court had approved the settlement.

The settlement may not be the end of RIM's problems, however. The Blackberry faces growing competition from other wireless email devices, some of them with more basic features than the Blackberry offers.

RIM, which says it has more than four million users, had been pressing for a new trial on NTP's patent claims. But a jury verdict has already found that RIM infringed NTP's patents and Judge Spencer left little doubt he was ready to enforce that verdict.

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