RIM Pushed to the Brink

The Wall Street Journalis reporting that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts denied Research In Motion’ (RIM)s request to freeze lower court proceedings in a patent dispute between the BlackBerry maker and NTP Inc.

The story goes on to say:

Research In Motion, a Waterloo, Ontario, maker of Blackberry wireless email devices, has been trying to ensure a U.S. District Court doesn’t enact an injunction restricting its ability to sell and support Blackberry operations in the U.S. because of a patent infringement case the company lost against NTP, a Virginia patent holding company. It filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Monday.

NTP sued RIM in 2001, claiming the company had violated several of its patents. RIM has said its business would be “irreparably harmed” and “would suffer substantial revenue and profit losses.”

–Janice Brand