USPTO Rejects Patent in BlackBerry Suit

On Wednesday, a final rejection of one of the five patents at issue in the ongoing court battle between NTP, a patent holding company, and Research In Motion, maker of the popular BlackBerry handheld, was issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), CNET News.com reports.

The rejected patent pertains to a system used for wirelessly sending e-mails to a mobile device.

Non-final rejections have already been issued by the USPTO for four of the five patents NTP is suing over, but final rejections must be issued before a federal appeals process can be started, CNET News.com reports.

NTP can now appeal the rejection to the USPTO and in a federal court.

Attorneys for NTP said they did not have time to review the rejection and could not comment, according to CNET News.com.

RIM said it had received the rejection notice, and the company expects the decision to hold up against any future NTP appeals, CNET News.com reports.

Both companies are set to appear in a Richmond, Va. courtroom on Friday to hear U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer’s final decision regarding a shutdown of RIM’s U.S. sales and services.

For CIO’s continuing coverage of the lawsuit and its ramifications, read BlackBerry on the Edge.

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