Telecom Lead America: BlackBerry maker RIM has lost
patent litigation case with Mformation Technologies.
A northern California jury has asked Rim to pay $147.2
million in patent litigation over a remote management system for wireless
devices.
Amar Thakur, an attorney for the plaintiff Mformation
Technologies, said the jury directed RIM to pay an $8 royalty for every
BlackBerry device connected to RIM’s enterprise server software, which brings
the total award to $147.2 million. The verdict only covers U.S. sales through
trial, Thakur said, and not future or foreign damages.
RIM spokeswoman Crystal Roberts said the company has
pending legal motions that could overturn the verdict.
“Research In Motion has worked hard to develop its
leading-edge BlackBerry technology,” Roberts said in a statement.
RIM last month posted its first operating loss in eight
years. The company will cut 5,000 jobs, almost a third of its workforce.
Mformation sued RIM in 2008, bringing claims on a patent
for a process that remotely manages a wireless device over a wireless network,
a court filing says. Mformation helps corporations manage their smartphone
inventory. The company helps telecoms operators, such as AT&T and Sprint,
with remote fixes and upgrades for users’ gadgets.
RIM argued that Mformation’s patent claims are invalid
because the processes were already being used when Mformation filed its patent
application.
The jury deliberated for four days this week before
handing down its verdict.
