Judge Sours BlackBerry Settlement

Earlier this month, RIM Co-Chief Executive James L. Balsillie said the company had developed a workaround for the service that would not violate any contested patents. But the fix has yet to be publicly demonstrated, and even if it does work, it could be costly, inefficient and still result in service blackouts. Observers of the case say that with the threat of a shutdown looming, RIM might have to pay out a billion dollars or more to settle with NTP. Research in Motion currently has more than $1.2 billion in cash. But RIM's troubles likely won't end with a settlement. The company also faces the prospects of lawsuits from shareholders angry that it spent so much time and money to fight NTP's claim and didn't settle years ago for significantly less money. RIM's stock is down more than 20% from a year ago, and trading of its shares was halted for part of Wednesday morning's trading session. It's currently down $3.42, or 5.27%, at $61.50. The ruling is the culmination of a messy legal dispute stretching back more than 15 years. In 1990, inventor Thomas Campana came up with a method for delivering e-mail wirelessly, patented the ideas, and in 1992, co-founded NTP to protect them. But the company never released a product. Not long after, Research in Motion's BlackBerry device began grabbing the attention of Type-A personalities everywhere, and in 2000, NTP sent a letter to RIM pointing out their patents and asking for a licensing fee. http://www.forbes.com/2005/11/30/rim-blackberry-lawsuit-cx_de_1130rimm_print.html

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