BlackBerry maker, NTP ink $612 million settlement
Research in Motion averts shutdown of wireless e-mail service, announces fourth-quarter warning.
March 3, 2006: 5:48 PM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - BlackBerry maker Research in Motion said Friday it agreed to pay $612.5 million to patent holding company NTP to settle a long-running dispute that had threatened to shut down the popular wireless e-mail service.

Canadian-based Research in Motion (Research) announced the settlement late Friday ahead of a U.S. judge's expected ruling on damages in the case.

Under the settlement, NTP granted RIM the right to keep running its BlackBerry business, the company said in a statement.

The agreement has been finalized and NTP's lawsuit against RIM has been dismissed by a court order, the Canadian company said.

The settlement means no further court proceedings or decisions about damages are necessary, RIM said.

RIM also issued a warning Friday, lowering it's 4th quarter revenue projections.

"This is an extremely positive development for RIM. The settlement announcement basically makes the pre-warning irrelevant," said Peter Misek, an analyst with Canaccord. "There's a lot of pent-up demand for RIM products, and competitors have not been able to capitalize on this."

"This settlement was less than Wall Street expected," he said.

The price of RIM's shares was halted at $72.00 at 4:37 p.m. in anticipation of the announcement