Just when you thought life was getting more difficult for Research in Motion, it just got worse on news its patent dispute settlement with NTP Inc. has gone off the rails. It's not clear happened but I would guess one side decided to play hard ball when it came to negotiating final terms. Perhaps RIM was emboldened by some positive news from the U.S. Patent Office, which caused some people to speculate RIM may have given in to NTP too early when it agreed to a $450-million settlement. Maybe NTP, which consists of twenty or so investors, is feeling its oats after signing a licensing agreement with Good Technology earlier this year. In any event, the deal is going back to a U.S. court that RIM has asked to enforce the preliminary decision. What with the Treo apparently gaining traction in the wireless device market, and Microsoft and Yahoo entering the push e-mail business, things are getting increasingly less fun for RIM. The latest chapter in the RIM-NTP soap opera just adds more sizzle to the action.

It seems like there are announcements on a daily basis about another mobile e-mail agreement. Yesterday, Yahoo and Sprint launched a new service to provide e-mail to consumers - powered by software from Seven Networks - that will see. Sprint will sell mobile e-mail for $2.99 a month plus air time. "What you're getting is a Blackberry-like experience at $2.99 a month" said Bill Nguyen, Seven's co-CEO. I'm not sure anyone is quite prepared to compare the reliability and security of Blackberry service with Seven's offering but there is no doubt competition in the mobile e-mail market is mounting. The key question is whether RIM can stay out of the competitive battle by serving high-margin corporate clients, who are willing to pay for an enterprise solution. Meanwhile, Seven and rivals such as Visto will fight it out in the mass, high-volume market. It's a nice scenario - and one most analysts want to believe for the time being - but I think RIM will likely see more comeptition in the corporate market. It's just too big and lucrative for rivals to ignore. What RIM really needs to do is diversify beyond its e-mail roots. It's pretty much a one-trick pony right now, which is why management talks about RIM evolving into a "wireless application platform". What they're really saying is competition is getting fierce, and they need to move on. Perhaps this means buying PalmSource so RIM can increase its software library and development community. Maybe it means coming out with even more consumer-friendly Blackberries - cheaper units with MP3 players, cameras, etc. However, you want to read it, the mobile e-mail space is becoming a very interesting patch.