2008 Woodie Awards
High court rejects BlackBerry appeal
Toni Loci, AP
Issue date: 1/26/06 Section: News
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Millions of BlackBerry users can now turn their attention back to a Richmond, Va., federal court where the fate of the popular wireless e-mail device may be decided.
After the Supreme Court chose on Monday not to intervene in the case, the resolution of the long-running battle over patents for the handheld device is up to U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer.
Although the judge could impose an injunction and block BlackBerry use among many of its estimated 3 million owners in the United States, many analysts expect Research In Motion Ltd., the device's maker, to strike a deal with the patent-holder or introduce changes to work around the patents.
Even if Spencer orders a partial shutdown, analysts said, he is likely to give users 30 days or more to switch to competing companies that provide wireless e-mail service.
Lawyers for NTP Inc., a small northern Virginia firm that says it owns the patent on the technology that makes the BlackBerry work, have said government and emergency workers would be exempt from any BlackBerry blackout. Others who have come to rely on the device _ such as lawyers, business travelers and brokers _ might be out of luck.
Research in Motion had asked the justices to weigh in to decide whether U.S. patent law is technologically out of date in the age of the Internet and the global marketplace.
At issue was how U.S. law applies to technology that is used in a foreign country and allegedly infringes on the intellectual property rights of a patent-holder in the United States.
RIM, a Canadian company, had contended it cannot be held liable for patent infringement because its main relay station for e-mail and data transmission is located in Waterloo, Ontario, outside U.S. borders.
But a federal appeals court had found that the Canadian company had infringed on the patents held by NTP because customers use the BlackBerry inside U.S. borders. The lower court said it did not matter where the relay station is located.
After the Supreme Court chose on Monday not to intervene in the case, the resolution of the long-running battle over patents for the handheld device is up to U.S. District Judge James R. Spencer.
Although the judge could impose an injunction and block BlackBerry use among many of its estimated 3 million owners in the United States, many analysts expect Research In Motion Ltd., the device's maker, to strike a deal with the patent-holder or introduce changes to work around the patents.
Even if Spencer orders a partial shutdown, analysts said, he is likely to give users 30 days or more to switch to competing companies that provide wireless e-mail service.
Lawyers for NTP Inc., a small northern Virginia firm that says it owns the patent on the technology that makes the BlackBerry work, have said government and emergency workers would be exempt from any BlackBerry blackout. Others who have come to rely on the device _ such as lawyers, business travelers and brokers _ might be out of luck.
Research in Motion had asked the justices to weigh in to decide whether U.S. patent law is technologically out of date in the age of the Internet and the global marketplace.
At issue was how U.S. law applies to technology that is used in a foreign country and allegedly infringes on the intellectual property rights of a patent-holder in the United States.
RIM, a Canadian company, had contended it cannot be held liable for patent infringement because its main relay station for e-mail and data transmission is located in Waterloo, Ontario, outside U.S. borders.
But a federal appeals court had found that the Canadian company had infringed on the patents held by NTP because customers use the BlackBerry inside U.S. borders. The lower court said it did not matter where the relay station is located.