The two
companies announced on Friday that they had signed an agreement
under which RIM has paid NTP $612.5 million in full and final
settlement of all claims and for a perpetual, fully paid-up
license. It also covers claims that NTP may have had against RIM’s
partners or third party sellers and providers of RIM products and
services.
Judge James Spencer of the US District Court for the Eastern
District of Virginia has now dismissed the infringement action.
In a court hearing last week the Judge expressed his surprise
that the case had not settled, and hinted that he would agree to
NTP’s request to grant an injunction prohibiting the Canadian firm
from US sales of the BlackBerry and any other products, software or
services using the wireless technology in dispute.
"We are pleased to have reached an amicable settlement with
RIM,” said Donald Stout, NTP’s co-founder. “We believe that the
settlement is in the best interests of all parties, including the
US Government and all other BlackBerry users in the US."
The US Justice Department had petitioned the Court, asking it to
ensure that any injunction would not affect Government workers.
According to reports, RIM, which had vowed to fight on, was
persuaded to settle because of the effect the dispute was having on
sales of the handset.
“It was slowing down our business, we realised, as we wrapped up
the quarter,'' RIM Co-CEO James Balsillie told Bloomberg.com. “This
was the pragmatic thing to do.''
On Friday, the firm released lower than expected figures for
subscriber account additions for the fourth quarter – in the range
of 620,000–630,000 rather than the 700,000–750,000 range provided
in December. RIM blamed the decrease largely on uncertainty
surrounding the NTP litigation, which it said had caused more US
corporate and retail customers than expected to defer BlackBerry
purchase commitments.
A US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) re-examination of
the patents involved in the dispute will continue despite the
settlement. The USPTO has so far issued preliminary rejections in
respect of all the patents, and final rejections in respect of two
out of the three involved. The final determination of the
re-examination process, which may take years to complete, will have
no effect on the settlement.
