RIM takes NTP to court - again

Claims rival not honouring settlement obligations

By Tony Smith, 10th June 2005

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Just when you thought it was all over, Research in Motion's long-running spat with NTP is about to return to the US courts.

RIM said yesterday it has filed a complaint with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit asking it to stay the earlier appeal ruling and to remand the case to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which RIM will ask to enforce the settlement terms.

RIM claims NTP is failing to do what it promised to in order to end the almost three-year-long legal battle.

"NTP refuses to honour its obligations under the Term Sheet and finalise the definitive documents," RIM alleged this week. "As a result, an impasse has been reached with respect to the settlement."

RIM did not say which terms NTP is allegedly trying to change or otherwise get out of.

The settlement, forged in March this year, will see RIM cough up $450m in return for a licence to use NTP's intellectual property. NTP sued RIM in 2002, winning an injunction against the Blackberry company which was later rescinded pending RIM's appeal, which kicked off in July 2004. RIM lost its appeal the following December.

Those were terms of the settlement - the final agreement still needed to be formulated, and it's that process which appears to have hit a rock in the road. RIM said if an agreement can't be reached, it will have no option but to go back to court to seek a judgement forcing NTP to commit to the terms it said it would support.

RIM is due to report the results of its first quarter FY2006 results on 29 June. ®