A View on View :: A New Twist to RIM-NTP Dispute

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A New Twist to RIM-NTP Dispute

by Mark Evans on Fri 11 Nov 2005 03:02 PM EST | Permanent Link

Buried in the mountain of court documents related to the patent dispute beween Research in Motion and NTP is a statement by the U.S. government that any move that would ban Blackberry usage in the U.S. could affect "essential" government services. (the full story - an exclusive, by the way - is in today's Financial Post.) In other words, the Blackberry has become such a crucial tool for Congressmen, Senators and lobbyists, it would be an unmitigated disaster if NTP won an injunction banning its use. So what is the U.S. government saying? It either wants RIM and NTP to settle their dispute - with the encouragement of the courts - or they are planning a massive switch to Treos, which is very unlikely. If you're the investment group behind NTP, does the $450 million settlement offer look more attractive? Maybe RIM needs to sweeten the pot to make it happen or maybe RIM feels it finally has the upper-hand in a long and troublesome dispute. It is hard not to get the feeling this dispute may wrap up sooner than later.

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