RIM loses US appeal
p2p news / p2pnet: Canada’s Research In Motion (RIM), which makes BlackBerry, has lost an emergency US Supreme Court appeal.
It’s appealing an infringement verdict and wanted the lawsuit stalled while the appeal was pending, says the CBC. But chief justice John Roberts denied the request, without comment.
“Research In Motion now has the option of filing the same request with a second justice,” says Bloomberg News. “In the meantime, the case goes back to a trial judge in Richmond, Virginia, who will consider ordering a halt to U.S. sales and service.”
Patent-licensing firm NTP Inc sued RIM in November 2001 and, “A year later, a federal jury in Richmond found that Research In Motion used NTP’s e-mail technology without permission,” says Bloomberg. “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld part of that finding.”
“The Supreme Court was not asked to, and did not decide, whether it ultimately will accept an appeal of the decision in this case,” says RIM.
“Rather, the Supreme Court merely decided that it would follow its normal course of allowing the District Court to decide whether and to what extent to continue the litigation in light of all relevant circumstances, including the prospect that the Supreme Court may decide to hear the case. The process by which the Supreme Court will decide whether to hear the case is expected to occur over the next few months.
“While further review by the Supreme Court is generally uncommon, RIM continues to believe this case raises significant national and international issues warranting further appellate review.”
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See:-
CBC – BlackBerry maker RIM denied U.S. Supreme Court bid to block patent suit, October 27, 2005
Bloomberg News – Research In Motion Loses Bid to Halt U.S. Lawsuit Proceedings, October 26, 2005
RIM – RIM Provides Update on NTP Litigation, October 26, 2005
