Blackberry Future Uncertain
The maker of the popular BlackBerry e-mail device is facing a critical decision: Pony up a lot of money to settle a long-term patent dispute or inform most of its 3.65 million U.S. subscribers that it may have to shut off service.
The company, Research in Motion Ltd., was dealt legal blows yesterday when a judge invalidated an earlier settlement with Arlington-based NTP Inc., which holds the patents to the wireless technology. The judge also declined to stay a permanent injunction, which means BlackBerry service could face a shutdown of its operations in coming months.
“This is the end of the line,” said Rebecca Arbogast, an analyst with research firm Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. “RIM kept betting that it would get lucky, but they kept losing every time a decision came up. This is about the worst possible outcome for them.”
RIM says it is working on a technology work-around that would maintain service, but it has not provided details.
See the legal document.
Read the rest of this article by Yuki Noguchi at The Washington Post »
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