The US government has intervened in the ongoing NTP/RIM patent lawsuit because many of its employees would be affected if the BlackBerry maker loses the case. The Justice Department filed a "statement of interest" explaining that up to 200,000 federal workers could be debilitated if Judge James Spencer issues an injunction against RIM to stop selling its PDAs. The Justice Department estimated that anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 government employees use BlackBerry devices while outside the office. The government's interference came shortly after Spencer said that he was most likely not going to stay the case against RIM in order to wait for a ruling from the USPTO.
For more on the DOJ's intervention:
- check out this article from the AP