• Reuters, Friday, December 23, 2005 10:15 AM

Some much-needed good news saw shares surge Thursday for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion. The litigation-worn Canadian company posted an unexpected 33 percent rise in third quarter profit, causing shares to jump 11 percent yesterday. The impressive earnings quelled fears that its ongoing and exhausting patent dispute with NTP Inc. had caused a mass customer defection. In 2002, NTP won a patent infringement verdict against RIM; now it seeks an injunction to shut down RIM's popular BlackBerry service in the U.S. if RIM refuses to settle. A settlement at this point looks highly unlikely. Despite strong earnings, investors' optimism was slackened somewhat by the news that RIM had cut its fourth quarter subscriber forecast for the second time in the past month.

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