Really: Five of the eight patents at issue were part of NTP's suit against RIM. This pretty much illustrates the problem with patent trolls: Give them a bone, and they want the whole cow, your car, and the rights to the next 15 generations your family's daughters. No response yet from the Big Four. [Network World via Slashdot, Flickr]

Blackberry maker, NTP ink $612 million settlement [CNN Money]

The stakes are comparatively high, especially considering NTP is nothing more than a boil on the ass of patent law. The company, which owns patents—that's right, that's all they do—originally wanted $1 billion. They've decided to drop that claim to about $450 million, enough to get the entire staff of NTP sex-reassignment surgery and a new Miata.

Although I've never loved the Blackberry, this whole case reminds us that patent law is broken. NTP is making dubious claims, RIM is throwing its weight around like a mini-Microsoft, and both parties are milking this for all the free publicity it's worth. Kinda makes me ill.

After the jump... a poll.

BlackBerry's high noon at hand [CNN]

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

NTP has long said that Research in Motion (RIM) violated patent guidelines with their BlackBerry push-email technology, which executives around the world use to stay constantly leashed to their offices. On Friday, though, Judge James Spencer is still set to rule on whether or not to shut down RIM's U.S. BlackBerry services altogether — so no one's out of the woods yet. Spencer still considers the legal rulings and the Patent Office's review processes as two separate proceedings.

BlackBerry maker scores patent win [CNN Money]

Yes, that's right, even more greedy bastards are trying to pick golden apples off the Research in Motion Tree today, with a company called Visto, which is allied with NTP (everyone's fave Blackberry patent-wielding villain), filing a patent infringement suit against one Good Technology Inc., a provider of e-mail software to cell-phone companies for smartphones and other handhelds.

Visto, which is based in Redwood Shores, Calif., claims Good Technology infringes on four patents granted between 1999 and 2004 that cover communication between a device and a larger network. The suit was filed in federal court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Good Technology Sued Over Wireless Patents [Yahoo]

Forget us poor schlubs who use our Blackberrys to email each other about what time we're meeting at the bar for drinks, it's the million-dollar CEOs who are seriously freaking out about losing service from RIM if this patent infringement case with NTP goes any further. With the Davos World Economic Forum starting today, it looks like business leaders from around the world are kvetching about not having their Blackberrys by their side next year at this time. Boo hoo, says Peter Levene, chairman of the Lloyd's of London insurance market.

It's just nuts. The idea that someone is just going to switch it off in three or four weeks, even if it's only in the United States, is crazy.

Insane, I say! Like there's not a hundred competitors just waiting in the wings, licking their chops, waiting for the world's Crackberrys to go dark. Now quit your whining, go forth and try to end world hunger, and while you're at it, stop Iran from blowing up the world, would ya?

BlackBerry blackout threat terrifies CEOs [CNN]

"It was a resounding rejection of NTP's position," James Balsillie, Research In Motion's chairman and co-chief executive, said by telephone. "The jig is up. I think the world is now starting to realize what is happening."

I'm all for the security and recouping of R&D costs patent law affords, but patent trolls like NTP make it hard on everyone. If anything, RIM should be hounding everyone else in the world about email on the go patents, but they're not. They're being good techie citizens, at least until they go bankrupt due to extensive competition and become a lawsuit spewing pustule. Ah... the circle of life.

Patent office backs RIM [ArsTechnica]

CEO Brian Bogosian said, "Microsoft has a long and well-documented history of acquiring the technology of others, branding it is as their own, and entering new markets." He alleged in a statement, "For their foray into mobile e-mail and data access, Microsoft simply decided to misappropriate Visto's well-known and documented patent technology."

Microsoft sued by Visto in Blackberry twist [Inquirer]

Wow. After taking a battering in the old Federal Court this week, RIM finally caught a break in its patent fight against NTP. Though NTP claims it holds the patents for Blackberry software, the Patent Office has now received information claiming a Norwegian firm was actually the first patent filers on this technology. But don't get your hopes up too high. This isn't final and NTP still gets to file a response. It may be months before we get any solid information on the future of our Blackberry service.

RIM gets good news in patent case [Cnet]

As an avid BlackBerry user, when I saw this I freaked out. This company NTP took RIM to court and were all like "We got patents for e-mail. Shut 'em down." And RIM was all like "Bullshit. We invented e-mail." Eventually the court got fed up of the feud and ruled more or less in NTP's favor that RIM had violated several of NTP's patents. As expected, RIM appealed the decision but now the courts have rejected the appeal and the request for another appeal. NTP is demanding that courts enforce the patent violation immediately which in turn would cause RIM to shut down BlackBerry's e-mail functions. Let's hope this isn't the case and RIM just has to pay a ton of money out to NTP.

Court Ruling in BlackBerry Case Puts Service to U.S. Users at Risk [NYTimes [Reg] via Lockergnome]