Blackberry Patent Dispute

Blackberry Patent Dispute

Bus 415

May 21, 2006

Many businesses are faced with legal issues that can negatively affect their operations. Patent infringement lawsuits are reoccurring and appear to be a common legal issue among the technology industry. For the purpose of this paper I will discuss a patent legal dispute as it pertains to a recently settled lawsuit between Blackberry's manufacture, Research In Motion (RIM) and NTP, a small patent holding company. In addition, this paper will also discuss the court process and structure as well as the NTP and RIM legal dispute resolution.

In law, intellectual property (IP) is an umbrella term for various legal entitlements which attach to certain types of information, ideas, or other intangibles in their expressed form. The holder of this legal entitlement is generally entitled to exercise various exclusive rights in relation to the subject matter of the IP (http://en.wikepedia.org).

Patents, trademarks and designs fall into a particular subset of intellectual property known as industrial property (http://en.wikepedia.org).

Patent disputes have increased with the growth of the Technology industry. According to Mohammed, the Blackberry dispute is the latest in a string of patent disputes that have cast a shadow over corporate technology users (Mohammed, 2006). In order to understand the validity of such a dispute one must first understand patents and patent infringement:

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a person for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which is new, inventive, and useful or industrially applicable. The exclusive right granted a patentee is the right to prevent others from making, using, selling, offering to sell or importing the claimed invention. The rights given to the patentee do not include the right to make, use, or sell the invention themselves. The patentee may have to comply with other laws and regulations to make use of the claimed invention. (http://en.wikepedia.org)

"A patent provides the proprietor of that patent with the right to exclude others from utilizing the invention claimed in that patent. If the invention is utilized without the permission of the patent proprietor, the patent is considered infringed" (http://en.wikepedia.org). Patent infringement can be considered direct, indirect, or active inducement of infringement.

In 1990 Thomas Campana Jr., an engineer and co owner of NTP Inc., the patent holding company, says he developed technology that transmits data through radio frequency, long before the Internet became an integral part of American life (Locy, 2006). However, in 1999 the BlackBerry device was introduce by manufacture Research In Motion (RIM), a Canada based LTD. The BlackBerry is a handheld wireless email device used by many businesses and government agencies. Businesses use the BlackBerry as a means to stay in contact with the office while government and law enforcement agencies use the device to communicate during emergencies. "The hi-tech gadgets are an essential tool for staying in touch with the office and the world while negotiating the waves of interviews and meetings held during the five-day jamboree (www.lan-aces.com). The patent dispute between NTP and RIM lasted over several years of appeals and unraveling settlements.

On November 13, 2001, "NTP, formed by inventor Thomas Campana and attorney Don Stout, sues Research In Motion in federal court in Alexandria, Va., claiming patent infringement. The case is assigned to U.S. District Court in Richmond (www.msnbc.com). The initial filing marked the beginning of a nearly five year legal dispute between NTP Inc. and RIM Ltd. involving patent infringement i.e. copyright infringement. The dispute started in the U.S. District Court and made its way all the way to Supreme Court, at which time the high court refused to hear the case (please see appendix A for a comprehensive timeline of the court process).

The United States has two major court systems: The Federal court system and State court system. U.S. District Courts have exclusive jurisdiction over certain legal disputes. Patent issues fall under the Federal court system and thus cannot be heard at the State court system level. In addition, patent infringement cases are not considered criminal but rather civil issues. The BlackBerry patent case traveled through the entire Federal court system all the way up to the Supreme Court, at which time the high court refused to hear the case, referring it back to the lower courts. The dispute between RIM and NTP was finally settled March 3, 2006 for $612.5 million dollars. The settlement was a welcome relief to many corporations that feared an eventual halt in the popular services offered by BlackBerry.

The technology industry is increasingly growing and new improved products are constantly being introduced. With so many devices operating at similar levels, patent infringement has been a reoccurring issue. The BlackBerry patent case extended for nearly five years and brought about concerns about the possible halt in the popular service. However, the federal courts ruling that required RIM Ltd. and NTP Inc. to make a settlement was a welcome relief for many companies that depend on the daily use of the popular BlackBerry. Future patent infringement issues will undoubtedly occur. However, reaching an agreement that benefits all parties involved can ultimately save time and money.

Appendix A (retrieved from msnbc.com)

Timeline: The BlackBerry patent case:

Important dates in the legal case between patent holding company NTP Inc.and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.

Nov. 13, 2001

NTP, formed by inventor Thomas Campana and attorney Don Stout, sues