RIM and NTP Reach Settlement in Blackberry Patent Licensing Dispute

RIM has reached a settlement for $612.5 million in the long-running patent dispute with NTP on their ever-more popular Blackberry devices.

All terms of the agreement have been finalized and the litigation against RIM has been dismissed by a court order this afternoon. RIM has settled all claims and received a perpetual license for future business, so they are in effect, home free. Their current cash+equivalents is at about $1.8 billion, so this should not be too much of a pinch. It also frees them up to sign new licensing deals, guarantee service to their customers, which include most enterprises and many federal users.

Last week, the judge in the case, Justice James Spencer, scolded the two companies for not yet reaching an agreement. Most of the original patents have been invalidated or questioned.

Another important dispute on the court calendar faces eBay off against MercExchange on critical technologies core to their online auction model

I'm glad - leastways, I won't see my crackberry switched off abruptly, leaving me bereft from my mails, conference calls, etc. :)

Article Author: Aaman Lamba

Aaman Lamba is a Blogcritics editor, as well as the Publisher of Desicritics.org, a Blogcritics network site covering media, politics, culture, sports and more with a global South Asian focus

Visit Aaman Lamba's author page — Aaman Lamba's Blog