Judge invalidates BlackBerry patent settlement

racheleggert

racheleggert

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http://www.startribune.com/stories/535/5755065.html

Judge invalidates BlackBerry patent settlement
Associated Press
November 30, 2005

RICHMOND, Va. — A federal judge ruled invalid Wednesday a $450 million settlement between a small patent holding firm and the maker of BlackBerry e-mail devices, Research in Motion Ltd.

U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer's decision is a victory for NTP Inc., an Arlington company that maintains the technology behind the popular BlackBerry infringes on its patents.

Canada's RIM had sought to uphold an agreement reached earlier this year that NTP said was never finalized.

Spencer could next consider reissuing an injunction that threatens to shut down U.S. BlackBerry service. However, analysts and industry observers expect RIM will be backed in a corner and forced to settle for a sum as high as $1 billion.

The Nasdaq market halted trading of BlackBerry's shares about 10:45 a.m.
 
Dunno what this really means. I doubt service will actually ever get cut off, but it's possible that RIM will get bought out or taken over in the near future. Sad, really.
 
I don't think RIM will be bought or take over. They can abandon USA business leaving all of the blackberry users in the dark! RIM got huge business worldwide, so it won't hurt them much. They are just plain greedy, that is all!


Dennis said:
Dunno what this really means. I doubt service will actually ever get cut off, but it's possible that RIM will get bought out or taken over in the near future. Sad, really.
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yea i havent heard about cingular wireless, my company's annoucement about blackberry stuffs... i am very curious what my company will say if blackberry network will be shut down.
 
diehardbiker65 said:
I don't think RIM will be bought or take over. They can abandon USA business leaving all of the blackberry users in the dark! RIM got huge business worldwide, so it won't hurt them much. They are just plain greedy, that is all!
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Hmm, no, they can't leave, because they have contracts with the U.S. Government. You don't just leave the U.S. Government. I think the U.S. would invade Canada if RIM exited the USA business. :)
 
Dennis said:
Hmm, no, they can't leave, because they have contracts with the U.S. Government. You don't just leave the U.S. Government.
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agreed.

i look forward to seeing blackberry 8700. it suppoed to be released last week but RIM said it is behind with its schedule. hopefully it will be released this coming Dec.
 
deafclimber said:
agreed.

i look forward to seeing blackberry 8700. it suppoed to be released last week but RIM said it is behind with its schedule. hopefully it will be released this coming Dec.
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oopsie... we now have 8700c here. :zzz:
 
What could happen is that they stop the sale of the blackberry but not the service of it. This affects the sale - so do keep your eyes open and watch this carefully. :(
 
DefLord said:
What could happen is that they stop the sale of the blackberry but not the service of it. This affects the sale - so do keep your eyes open and watch this carefully. :(
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Not quite. The issue the patents cover is the "way that Blackberry sends email between email servers and the RIM Blackberry device." That's the part that is being sued over, NOT the pagers that receive the emails. Sales of the Blackberries cannot be stopped, but the worst case is that someone could force a shut down of all Blackberry email services.

You can still use the Blackberry as a phone, for example.
 
No they don't have contract with us government... REMEMBER, it is the wireless service carrier provider that got contract with the government. RIM only manufacture the device, NOT provider of wireless service!

Dennis said:
Hmm, no, they can't leave, because they have contracts with the U.S. Government. You don't just leave the U.S. Government. I think the U.S. would invade Canada if RIM exited the USA business. :)
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Service can be stopped because Blackberry can shut down contract with wireless service provider, forcing them to abort the service!
Same with Sidek!ck, if Danger decided to quit doing business abruptly, then T-Mobile must stop the service, because they all have to be routed though the Danger, Inc. There is no way wireless service provider can bypass them.

DefLord said:
What could happen is that they stop the sale of the blackberry but not the service of it. This affects the sale - so do keep your eyes open and watch this carefully. :(
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diehardbiker65 said:
No guarantees there! That is all speculation, that is all.
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i find this funny, but ,yes, there is guarantee.

according to usatoday.com,
"In a statement, the company also said it was developing software "workarounds" that would allow it to keep doing business if the case is ultimately decided in NTP's favor."

according to msnbc.com,
"Among those concerned is the U.S. government, which has thousands of employees with BlackBerries. While NTP has promised that the injunction would not apply to government and emergency employees in the United States"

according to cnet.com,
"Canada's RIM can avoid any U.S. service shutdown if it can find some way to prevail in court or if it chooses to pay to license the patents from NTP. Jim Balsillie, RIM's co-chief executive, also has claimed that RIM has a backup "workaround" for BlackBerry devices and their accompanying servers that could be used if necessary--and prevent BlackBerry customers from being disconnected. "


also, my company still sells the blackberry stuffs. so no worries about the blackberry things. i love having blackberry.
 
diehardbiker65 said:
No they don't have contract with us government... REMEMBER, it is the wireless service carrier provider that got contract with the government. RIM only manufacture the device, NOT provider of wireless service!
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Incorrect. Yes, they are the provider of the wireless service. In order to get Blackberry with Corporate email or Government email, you have to install RIM's Blackberry program on your company servers. That means that you have to be running Exchange Server or Lotus Notes or whatever, and install Blackberry's special program to send those emails to the Blackberry. You cannot just get a Blackberry RIM pager and magically make the emails show up on your pager.


If you want to be exactly correct, many U.S. government divisions are highly dependant on Blackberries remaining operational. I really don't know if the Blackberries in question are serviced by any number of "wireless carriers" like Sprint or Cingular or Verizon, but rest assured that the U.S. Government will NOT simply let RIM be forced to stop all email BECAUSE of national security concerns.
 
There is nothing that is really 100% guarantee in business world.

I can prove in many ways, one major evidence is that for years companies have guaranteed pension. In the end, there are plenty of companies went bankruptcy thus wiped out pension leaving many retirees with guarantee pension, PENNILESS!!! Its happening already. There are handful of companies that haven't declare bankruptcy have actually cut off pension in history! Eastman Kodak is one of them! Sure alot of Kodak retirees is getting pissed off about this, but whats point of "garantees" in these years? So, what I am pointing out is do NOT expect 100% guarantees if somethings up in the air!

deafclimber said:
i find this funny, but ,yes, there is guarantee.
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Best I can say is WAIT AND SEE! Then we will know for sure!

Dennis said:
Incorrect. Yes, they are the provider of the wireless service. In order to get Blackberry with Corporate email or Government email, you have to install RIM's Blackberry program on your company servers. That means that you have to be running Exchange Server or Lotus Notes or whatever, and install Blackberry's special program to send those emails to the Blackberry. You cannot just get a Blackberry RIM pager and magically make the emails show up on your pager.


If you want to be exactly correct, many U.S. government divisions are highly dependant on Blackberries remaining operational. I really don't know if the Blackberries in question are serviced by any number of "wireless carriers" like Sprint or Cingular or Verizon, but rest assured that the U.S. Government will NOT simply let RIM be forced to stop all email BECAUSE of national security concerns.
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