Wiley Rein & Fielding Secures $450 Million Settlement in BlackBerry Patent Dispute

March 16, 2005

Washington, DC—Wiley Rein & Fielding attorneys have secured, on behalf of client NTP Inc., a $450 million patent infringement settlement with Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), the maker of BlackBerry wireless e-mail devices. The settlement, which grants RIM the right to continue its BlackBerry-related wireless business, resolves litigation brought by NTP over the infringement of 16 of its patents.

WRF’s team of patent attorneys was led by leading intellectual property lawyer James H. Wallace, Jr. In a 2002 jury trial, the group successfully argued that RIM's core BlackBerry line of wireless email products, software, and services willfully infringed five NTP patents. In 2003, the Federal District Court in Richmond, Virginia issued two orders, one specifying a damages award to be enhanced by a percent royalty on all the revenue from U.S. Blackberry sales, and one an injunction to prevent RIM from making or selling its devices in the United States. The injunction was stayed while RIM appealed. The appeal was heard last year, and in December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, DC unanimously affirmed the prior jury verdict in favor of NTP.

NTP and RIM will finalize the terms of the settlement in the coming weeks.

WRF’s extensive Patent Litigation Practice—particularly in the fields of the Internet, satellite communications, semiconductors, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, computer software and hardware (including Internet applications) and medical devices—has obtained successful verdicts or settlements for clients in jury trials, arbitration proceedings and International Trade Commission proceedings, and has developed "enforcement strategies" for clients including litigation and patent licensing.

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