• NY Times, Thursday, February 2, 2006 10:15 AM

The United States patent office issued a preliminary ruling on Wednesday that undermines legal claims by NTP, an intellectual property holder in Arlington, Va., that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has violated its copyright. Canada-based RIM said the decision means the patent office has now twice rejected the five patents controlled by NTP that are related to the BlackBerry case. NTP, which holds the intellectual property for wireless e-mail delivery but does not actually incorporate it in any product, has sued RIM for copyright violation. RIM, in turn, asked the U.S. patent office to review and possibly overturn NTP's patents, since the holding company doesn't actually use them. The decision clears the way for a final ruling from the patent office, which could occur as early as next month. Meanwhile, NTP still has two avenues of appeal and is seeking an injunction on Feb. 24 to shut down BlackBerry service in the U.S. for all account holders in the U.S. who are not in government or emergency services. The U.S. patent office ruling is separate from the BlackBerry case in federal court in Virginia.

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