BlackBerry maker wins court ruling

A technology patent dispute was settled last week when the UK High Court ruled in favour of Research In Motion (RIM), maker of the BlackBerry wireless email device.

The ruling revoked a patent held by Inpro Licensing, which, had it been upheld as valid, could have disrupted services to about 375,000 UK BlackBerry users.

RIM is also embroiled in legal challenges in the US, where it is appealing against several patent infringement suits from patent holding company NTP.

A key hearing is scheduled for 24 February, and if unsuccessful, could force the manufacturer to shut down its service in the US and halt sales of the devices.

The legal disputes are already starting to frighten off some users. Darbys Solicitors, a UK law firm, is migrating its senior staff to a rival technology amid concerns about RIM’s future.

‘There is a question over product development at RIM while the court issues roll on,’ said Mike Warriner, head of IT at the law firm.

‘Such a significant amount cut away from the firm’s profit and loss must have an effect on its research and development.’

Darbys started reviewing alternatives last summer, before settling on a combination of HP handhelds with mobile email software from Good Technology.

Warriner says the new system is not only cheaper, but also provides more functionality, such as improved security and native attachment support, which has boosted the amount of time for which its lawyers can charge.

About 20 lawyers at the firm have already switched, with plans to migrate some 40 people in the next nine to 12 months.