Judge Stops Short of BlackBerry Shutdown

According to MSNBC, U.S. District Judge James Spencer stopped short of ordering an immediate shutdown of the BlackBerry portable e-mail devices made by Research In Motion Ltd.

NTP wanted the judge to halt sales and shut down the BlackBerry service in the U.S. RIM urged the court to give more time to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which is reexamining the NTP patents. Earlier this week, the agency rejected the first of five patents closely tied to the court case.

But Judge Spencer did say there was no escaping that RIM had been found to be infringing on NTP’s patents and he would issue a decision on an injunction “as soon as reasonably possible.”

–Janice Brand