RIM Claims Victory with NTP Patents Pending Dismissal

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1:42 am on December 20, 2005 | Category: Business, Mobile Devices, Law

The tide of NTP’s wireless email patent infringement lawsuit has finally turned in the favor of the Ontario-based defendant, Research in Motion.

The US Patent and Trademark Office is now expected to reject and invalidate the five patents owned by NTP – the very patents that the case is based on. Both sides confirmed yesterday that the Office had informed them of its intentions, which are likely to be fulfilled by mid-February.

“The patent owner’s arguments are deemed non-persuasive,” said an official document from the patent office. “The next office action is expected to be a final rejection of all current claims.”

When this becomes official, all hearings about issuing an injunction against RIM will be suspended. The BlackBerry maker claims that this will render NTP’s lawsuit null and void, unless they spend several years and millions of dollars attempting to appeal the patent decision.

“It was a resounding rejection of NTP’s position,” said RIM chairman and CEO, James L. Balsillie, in a telephone interview. “The jig is up. I think the world is now starting to realize what is happening.”

NTP co-founder, Donald Stout, however, claims that this does not necessarily mark the end of this case. He says that NTP executives are currently discussing alternative strategies to protect the company’s interests.

Of course, it is difficult to see how this small patent holding company stands a chance in court, when stripped of the patents, which are its only “interests” to speak of. Logically speaking, the case should be dismissed in short order. But then again, we never really know. There’s no ironclad guarantee that NTP won’t have a few more tricks up its sleeve.