RIM has good news at last
A US judge has overturned a $147.2 million jury award against RIM and decided that the BlackBerry maker has not infringed a Mformation Technologies patent.
The patent covered a remote management system for wireless devices and US District Chief Judge James Ware also granted RIM's motion seeking a new trial if a higher court overturns his ruling. This stops the jury award being reinstated should Mformation successfully appeal the new ruling.
RIM's Chief Legal Officer Steve Zipperstein in a statement that the company was pleased as it had not infringed on Mformation's patent. Mformation, which helps companies manage their smartphone inventory, said it is assessing its legal options and is hacked off that a week of thinking by the jury had been overturned.
Mformation sued RIM in 2008 and the jury trial began in June. The jury ruled last month that RIM had infringed the Mformation patent and awarded the New Jersey-based company $147.2 million in damages. RIM argued that the jury did not have sufficient evidence to reach this verdict and sought to have it overturned by the judge, who was overseeing the trial.
Judge Ware said that there was no 'legally sufficient evidentiary basis' on which a reasonable jury could have found for Mformation on the issue of infringement. RIM said the dispute with Mformation highlights the need for reforms to patent laws.
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Nick Farrell
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