by CIO Staff

BlackBerry Patent Dispute: Fifth and Last NTP Patent Rejected

News
Feb 01, 20061 min
IT Leadership

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has issued a rejection of a fifth patent in NTP’s lawsuit against Research In Motion (RIM), according to a lawyer for NTP, Reuters reports.

By rejecting the patents, the PTO is, in effect, siding with RIM.

Research In Motion is the maker of the popular BlackBerry handheld, and the case could lead to a shutdown of RIM’s U.S. sales and services.

The PTO has currently issued rejections of all five patents in the BlackBerry infringement case, currently pending before a federal judge, the article says.

James Wallace, an NTP attorney, said the company has the opportunity to respond within 30 days, after which the PTO will render a file decision, Reuters reports.  That decision could be brought before a patent appeals board.

Check out BlackBerry on the Edge for CIO’s continuing coverage of the RIM/NTP patent battle.

-Al Sacco