Research In Motion has been dealt another blow. It lost a patent case against mobile device management company Mformation and was ordered this past Friday to pay US$147.2-million (a US$8 royalty per devie for some 18.4 million BlackBerry devices sold in the U.S. that connect to RIM’s BES).
Mformation sued RIM back in 2008, alleging that RIM was infringing two patents (6,970,917 and 7,343,408) to remotely manage wireless devices over a wireless network. If there is any good news in this verdict, it is that RIM will not need to pay royalties on future U.S. sales.
For its part, RIM said via press release that it still believed that the Mformation patent in question was not valid. It added:
RIM is disappointed by the outcome and is evaluating all legal options. Additionally, the trial judge has yet to decide certain legal issues that might impact the verdict. RIM will await those rulings before deciding whether to pursue an appeal.
With a potential appeal being considered, it sounds like this one will go on for a while longer…
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