Why are they talking about shutting down the BlackBerry wireless network? Because about two years ago BlackBerry vendor Research In Motion Ltd. in Waterloo, Ontario, lost a patent infringement lawsuit in U.S. courts brought by a company called NTP Inc. The court awarded NTP damages amounting to US$53.7 million and issued an injunction that would shut down the operation of the BlackBerry network in the U.S. RIM got a stay of execution for the injunction, but NTP is expected to seek to have it reimposed later this month.

What is NTP Inc.? NTP is a holding company created in 1992 to manage certain patents belonging to Thomas Campana, an electrical engineer. The firm operates out of a lawyer's office in McLean, Va. It has licensed patents to other companies and has two dozen shareholders, mostly lawyers in the Washington area. In 2002, Campana sued RIM for infringing five of his patents and prevailed in the original trial and on appeal. He died in June 2004, but NTP has carried on the suit.

What does NTP have against RIM? They want royalties for the patents. The injunction is a weapon given by the court to NTP so NTP can ensure payment.

"We have said that we are more than willing to license RIM on a reasonable royalty-paid-up basis," said Jim Wallace, a lawyer with Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP in Washington and lead trial counsel for NTP. "RIM has the keys to its own jail."

RIM did not comment for this article, but has stated repeatedly in documents that it considers an injunction "inappropriate" on public interest and legal grounds.