Tomorrow is D-day for Research In Motion. A federal judge will decide whether or not to impose an injunction to shut down BlackBerry operations in the U.S. as a result of RIM's patent battle with NTP. To be sure, carriers are watching the situation and have been testing and certifying RIM's workaround solution in case the judge doesn't rule in RIM's favor.
The workaround solution requires customers to download new software to their BlackBerry devices, and corporate customers will have to upgrade the software on BlackBerry servers. Some wireless operators are worried that older BlackBerry devices will be unable to use the workaround software because they don't have enough memory. While operators say they are confident things are going to be operating as usual, they have to be biting their nails this week. After all, their BlackBerry customers are some of the most important revenue generators. Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a final rejection to one of the key patents NTP's infringement lawsuit against RIM.
For more about how carriers are preparing for a possible BlackBerry shutdown and the rejection of NTP's patent:
- take a look at this article from Globe and Mail
- read this article from MobileTracker