NTP Suggests $900m Deal With RIM
After US District Court Judge James R. Spencer ruled against enforcing the
$450 million deal made last March between RIM and NTP to settle their lawsuit,
the latter has come up with an offer worth twice as much - $900m. Last week NTP reportedly said it would accept a payment equal to 5.7% of BlackBerry's
expected revenue in the US until 2012 - when its patents expire - from BlackBerry's
maker, Canadian firm Research In Motion Ltd, which would add up to $900m according
to market analysts. RIM is said to be offering a much lower figure; but the firm is under pressure
after the District Court ruling followed hard on the heels of a refusal by the
US Supreme Court of an emergency application by RIM for a halt to the proceedings
brought by Virginia patent concern NTP. RIM has said it fears that NTP will file a new motion asking the District
Court to reinstate a 2003 injunction prohibiting RIM from providing BlackBerry
service and from using, selling, manufacturing or importing its handhelds and
software in the United States. RIM maintains that an injunction is inappropriate
given the facts of the case and substantial doubts raised subsequent to trial
as to the validity of the patents in question. The injunction had been stayed
pending RIM's appeal, which has now been lost, although RIM still hopes for
a Supreme Court review of the case. The patent fight has involved RIM's use of technology to send email wirelessly
and automatically, and without a need to manually retrieve messages. The original
jury found that RIM infringed NTP's patents, rejecting the company's defense
that since BlackBerry emails are sent through a Canadian network US patents
don't apply. In fact no-one expects NTP to use its nuclear option as long as RIM is prepared
to talk, given that virtually all the lawyers involved in the case use Blackberry
themselves, and a prominent Congressman said recently that the work of Congress
would be severely impeded without Blackberry technology. RIM has nearly four milllion BlackBerry subscribers, mostly in the US, and
has nearly $2bn of realisable investments. The company claims that it has a
"workaround" technology that bypasses NTP's patents, in case the courts
reinstate the deadly injunction; but NTP casts doubt on that assertion. .
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