Source: MSNBC

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from the maker of the BlackBerry in the long-running battle over patents for the wildly popular, handheld wireless e-mail device.

The high court's refusal to hear Canada-based Research In Motion Ltd.'s appeal means that a trial judge in Richmond, Va., could impose an injunction against the company and block BlackBerry use among many of its owners in the United States.

The justices had been asked to decide on whether U.S. patent law is technologically out of date in the age of the Internet and the global marketplace.

At issue was how U.S. law applies to technology that is used in a foreign country and allegedly infringes on the intellectual property rights of a patent-holder in the United States.

The justices were asked to decide whether Research In Motion can be held liable for patent infringement when its main relay station for e-mail and data transmission is located in Waterloo, Ontario, outside U.S. borders.

RIM was challenging a ruling by a federal appeals court that found that the company had infringed on the patents held by NTP Inc., a tiny northern Virginia patent-holding company, because its customers use the BlackBerry inside U.S. borders. The panel said it did not matter where the relay station is located.

I don't get it. Why won't the hear the case?

Because they do not want to and they do not have to, they are leaving it to the lower court. Aparently it does not meet its criteria yet, If they rule for an injuction and the process of appeals is exhausted with the lower court then, they can, if they so choose to, hear the case. It is by no means over yet.

Now looks like Intel and RIM will fight together and see they can punch NTP in the face.

Man, I don't know what I'd do without this thing (7100i).

I read that article this morning and was shocked. I hope this somehow doesn't affect us with Blackberries.

mf11p

Some one has got to develop a test to take and pass before you can post.

I don't believe we will have to do anything enterprise end. From what I understand it will be implimented at the RIM end.

The whole defense from RIM's perspective has been that the relay is in Canada, and therefore should not be subject to US Patent law.

I would assume this means that the software on your BES and/or Handheld is not the issue.

Potentially this could effect our Enterprise requiring an update, my guess is they are poised and ready to release that update in the event it is needed. At least that's what I would do if I were them.

IMO

Thanks for the information. I just found out that my organization might just switch to Mobile 5.0 devies and use our Excange server. Fun, another solution to try to figure out.

so its almost the end of january....wasnt the patent office supposed to do something critical to this case by the end of this month?

I have searched here, but can't find it anywhere, so if anyone knows...

If the injunction is invoked, will Pin-to-Pin still work? I thought the issue was with push email. At least we can still communicate with PINS?

We called RIM, and they won't even answer that simple question!

Thanks,

Paul

So, hypothetically speaking, lets say everything goes wrong for RIM during this next round of hearings. How long, realistically before we start shopping for alternative devices?

^^^^^^that's my question too! This is getting ridiculous!

I hate to be naive but I seriously doubt RIM will ever come to the conclusion that the blackberries in the US cant be used. They ahve a workaround already developed in the unlikely event that they do lose everything. BUT if for whatever reason, RIM has to stop the service in the US i'm sure that we will receive some sort of refund or something. Its not our fault the continued to sell us blackberries and assure us everything would be ok, even though they are in the midst of a lawsuit.

Long story short, all of the government institutions that use blackberries, all of the major companies that use blackberries.....Millions of dollars in revenue in the US, too much for RIM to just give up on. They will pay a settelment or they will find a way to make it work before the give up. and if they do im sure we wll be in some way compensated.

This is getting old...the media needs to give it a rest.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6452_7-...tag=cnetfd.ld1

The judge is supposed to rule on the injunction on Feb 24. I've read a variety of articles from tech-zines and they are chastising IT Managers if they don't have a workaround in place...What could we possibly do as a workaround, I'm not purchasing hundreds of palm devices and then waiting to see what happens...

Yeah. Here is what I say my workaround is. "Work from your desk until I can figure out what to do." Seeing the looks on peoples faces is priceless.

We called RIM to ask about Pin to Pin still possibly working if an injunction is invoked. The response: "We are not allowed to talk about it at all".

Man, that is a nice way to treat a customer with 300+ units. I can't imagine how answering a simple question like would have any effect on the case.

Lawyers...sheesh.

is the case still going on?