An appeals court yesterday reversed some findings against Research in Motion (RIM) in its ongoing patent dispute with holding company NTP but sent the case back to a lower court. The appeals court denied RIM's petition for a rehearing of the case. The appeals court overturned a previous finding that RIM had infringed NTP's "method" patents, but upheld that it violated patents NTP claims on RIM's email system. The appeals court also delayed an order from a lower court's judge for RIM to stop US sales of its devices. In short, the legal fight between RIM and NTP will drag on for who knows how long.
RIM earlier this year settled with NTP for $450 million, but the settlement later fell apart. The US Patent Office reviewed NTP's patents, dismissing several of NTP's key intellectual property claims.
For more on the latest RIM, NTP decisions:
- see this story from TechWorld