WATERLOO, Ontario-A Virginian judge rejected Research In Motion Ltd.’s request to enforce a settlement with its adversary NTP Inc., a move that caused the Nasdaq to halt trading on RIM’s stock. The ruling stands as yet another setback for RIM in its legal battle with NTP, and brings the company one step closer to a court-ordered injunction.
RIM’s stock was up slightly in trading at $65.25 per share before the Nasdaq halted trading.
RIM had asked the court to enforce a $450 million settlement it reached with NTP earlier this year. The companies announced the settlement in March, but it fell apart shortly thereafter. RIM then sent the issue to the court, asking it to enforce the settlement.
“The court finds the parties do not have a valid and enforceable settlement agreement,” Judge James Spencer wrote in his ruling.
The court also rejected RIM’s request to stop the case pending the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s review of NTP’s patents. Although the USPTO has rejected all of NTP’s patents under review, the court said that likely won’t affect the current case.
“Reality and past experience dictate that several years might very well pass from the time when a final office action is issued by the PTO to when the claims are finally and officially ‘confirmed’ after appeals,” the judge wrote about the USPTO patent re-examination.
Following the rulings, NTP said it would continue to call for an injunction on the sale of RIM’s BlackBerry devices. The company however reiterated that the injunction would not affect BlackBerrys used by federal, state or local government entities or first responders. NTP said it wants the court to enforce a 2002 jury ruling that awarded NTP royalties on BlackBerrys sold in the United States. NTP said that under the ruling RIM owes it $210 million in royalties so far.
Still unclear is how RIM’s “workaround” for NTP’s patents will affect the issue. The BlackBerry maker has said it can install technology that will not infringe on NTP’s patents.
