New BlackBerry could spur mobile apps says eAccess

The judge in the court battle between RIM and NTP postponed until next week a ruling on whether to issue an injunction against the Blackberry mobile e-mail service that would affect RIM's 3.2 million U.S. customers.

However, U.S. District Judge James Spencer did acknowledge that Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM did violate NTP's patents, and said he would make a decision on a possible injunction "as soon as reasonably possible," according to Reuters.

Yesterday, RIM CEO James Balsillie said that his company is prepared to pay NTP 5.7 percent of the proceeds from future Blackberry sales in the U.S., on the condition that NTP give RIM agreeable licensing terms. RIM had a standing offer to give NTP a 0.5 percent share of future Blackberry sales for the next seven years, when NTP's patents run out.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled that one of the five patents held by NTP is invalid, a decision that some legal analysts believe could eventually lead to the rejection of the other four patents. Friday, the USPTO ruled another of NTP's patents invalid.

David Bean, president and CEO of eAccess Solutions, Palatine, Ill., says an injunction would be unfair given that two of the five patents held by NTP have now been ruled invalid by the USPTO. "We're confident that either with further court action, or a settlement process, that RIM and the BlackBerry product will not be in danger of termination," said Bean.

Steve Beauregard, president of Regard Solutions, Santa Monica, Calif., isn't surprised that the judge denied NTP's request for an injunction, but says a bigger issue looms.

"The important lesson here is to recognize that wireless enterprise solutions are now mission critical," said Beauregard. He says in light of the other legal battles brewing in the wireless e-mail space, companies will have to learn to plan strategically to avoid legal pitfalls.

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