The ruling followed similar decisions on several other patents held by Arlington, Va.-based NTP Inc., which is seeking an injunction against continued operation of the BlackBerry service in the U.S. by Research In Motion Ltd.
But Todd Kort, a Gartner Inc. analyst, said it could take a year or so for the PTO to formally invalidate all of NTP's patents. Because the federal judge overseeing NTP's lawsuit against RIM has said he won't hold up the case while the patents are re-examined, Kort expects the PTO's preliminary rulings to prompt NTP to bargain harder for an upfront financial settlement that would prevent any BlackBerry service disruptions.
Last week, though, NTP officials vowed to contest the PTO's rejection of the company's patent claims. "We're not rolling over on this and playing dead," said NTP attorney James Wallace Jr. via e-mail. "This is going to be reversed."
With a Feb. 24 hearing looming on NTP's injunction request, the patent-holding firm and RIM filed memorandums in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va. The U.S. Department of Justice also weighed in with a brief arguing against an injunction.
In its memorandum, NTP demanded a payment of nearly US$126 million from RIM to cover lost licensing fees.
RIM asked Judge James Spencer to grant a new trial on the question of damages. The Waterloo, Ontario-based vendor also criticized NTP for supporting exemptions for government and emergency workers from an injunction against BlackBerry usage, saying that many doctors and hospital staffers would be left out under that scenario.
The DOJ said that a court-ordered shutdown of the BlackBerry service could hamper communications during emergencies and that it might not be technically feasible to keep government users connected to the service while cutting off others. The only workable solution, it added, might be to issue an injunction that blocked only new sales of BlackBerry devices.
Kort said RIM officials told him that by the middle of this week the company will release details about a BlackBerry software work-around it has developed in case Judge Spencer does issue an injunction.
The CIO at a large company in the construction industry that has about 500 BlackBerry users said installing a work-around would be less painful than coping with a shutdown of RIM's service. Converting to another wireless technology would pose "a terrible burden" on setup and user training, said the CIO, who asked not to be identified.