RIM announces workaround contingency for BlackBerry customers

9 February 2006 16:01 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Research In Motion (RIM) has outlined its plans for a workaround if it fails to win its patent litigation suit against NTP.

In a statement issued by the company, RIM said:

"RIM's workaround provides a contingency for our customers and partners and a counterbalance to NTP's threats. This will hopefully lead to more reasonable negotiations since NTP risks losing all future royalties if the workaround is implemented.

"RIM remains pragmatic and reasonable in its willingness to enter into a settlement that would generously compensate NTP while protecting RIM's business and partners.

"NTP's public offer of a so-called 'reasonable' license, however, is simply untenable. It comprises illusory protection for RIM and its partners and requires a lump-sum payment for the theoretical life of the patents even though the US Patent Office is expected to nullify them."

RIM says it has received a confidential and privileged legal opinion confirming that RIM's software workaround designs do not infringe any of the NTP patent claims remaining in the litigation.

RIM has incorporated the workaround designs into a software update called BlackBerry Multi-Mode Edition that has been developed and tested as a contingency.

In the event of an injunction, RIM is able to remotely activate "US Mode" via its NOC and the workaround designs would automatically engage for each handset containing the Multi-Mode Edition software update.

The company has also said that either way, customers shouldn't be affected by the outcome of the injunction.

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