Research In Motion Chairman James L. Balsillie's spirits have lifted slightly on the news that the U.S. patent office is moving a bit faster than usual in reexamining the patents at the crux of his
company's exhausting legal dispute over its BlackBerry wireless e-mail service. RIM has accused NTP, a tiny firm that holds the patents over the technology the BlackBerry service utilizes, of abusing
the patent system and damaging its brand by publicly threatening to shut down the Blackberry service, which has millions of subscribers in the U.S. and Canada. NTP's business doesn't utilize the
patents it holds--in fact the company doesn't even sell anything. So far, Canada-based RIM has had no luck in the U.S. court system, but it continues to appeal decisions that have gone in favor of NTP
while the U.S. patent office reexamines the legitimacy of NTP's patents. Meanwhile, NTP is seeking an injunction to have BlackBerry service shut down in the U.S. It is now a race against time for RIM,
as the judge presiding over the case has said he will not wait for the U.S. patent office to complete its final round of rejections before making a ruling.
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