» RIM Runs Ad Encouraging Patent ReformTelecommunications Industry News

Telecom News Editorials Reports Glossary

RIM Runs Ad Encouraging Patent Reform

6:00 am on March 16, 2006 | Category: Business, Law, Mobile Devices

Wireless email device maker, Research In Motion, ran a full page ad in eight American newspapers on Tuesday, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and San Francisco Chronicle.

The ad consisted of a letter from RIM co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, which thanked the companyâ€™s supporters in the recent patent dispute with NTP, and expressed relief that the matter was finally settled.

RIM agreed to pay $612.5 million to patent holder, NTP, after a lengthy patent dispute, which almost saw BlackBerry service shut down in the United States.

â€œYou can rest assured the BlackBerry is here to stay,â€ said the public letter from RIM. The executives also took the opportunity, however, to express their dissatisfaction with the US patent system.

Concerns have been raised about why the case against RIM kept going even after the US Patent and Trademark Office invalidated the very patents it was based on.

â€œAs to the lingering question of why the patent system should allow such a bizarre set of circumstances to threaten millions of American customers in the first place, we share your concern,â€ said the RIM letter. â€œThe good news is that this topic is currently receiving much more attention from policymakers and the Supreme Court and we hope the patent system will evolve to close the loopholes and become more balanced.â€

Telecommunications Industry News