WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) -- Canada's Research In Motion Ltd., maker of BlackBerry devices, settled its long patent fight Friday by agreeing to pay a patent firm $612.5 million.
Virginia-based NTP Inc., a small patent firm, was seeking a federal court order to halt all U.S. service of the popular BlackBerry e-mail device to enforce an earlier trial outcome that determined RIM was running BlackBerrys by infringing on NTP's patents. About 3.2 million U.S. residents use BlackBerrys.
RIM agreed to make a one-time payment to NTP of $612.5 million in exchange for which NTP has granted RIM a virtually perpetual license that will enable RIM and its partners, present or future, to continue its BlackBerry-related wireless business.
The license covers all of RIM's past and future products, services and technologies, as well as all RIM customers and providers of RIM products and services. It gives RIM the right to grant sublicenses under the NTP patents to anyone for products or services that interface, interact or combine with RIM's products, services or infrastructure.
It also lets RIM and its partners sell its products, services and infrastructure completely free and clear of any claim by NTP.
