The maker of the BlackBerry on Monday suffered a setback in a patent dispute that could shut down the hugely popular wireless e-mail service in the US.
The US Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Research in Motion over a lower court ruling that said it was infringing patents of Virginia-based NTP. The case dates back to 2002, when NTP successfully sued RIM. It won an injunction a year later to halt US sales of the BlackBerry and to shut down the service, although the ruling was stayed pending appeal.
Some 70 percent of RIM's revenue comes from the US and the business closure would be a blow. It would be just as shocking to the millions of users of the hand-held devices.
The appeals court scaled back the initial ruling but still said RIM had infringed on NTP patents. The two sides reached a US$450m settlement in March, but the deal fell apart three months later. RIM has asked the appeals court to enforce the deal. NTP has asked the court to press ahead with a permanent injunction, royalty payments and US$126m in damages.
RIM, which is based in Waterloo, Ontario, had asked the Supreme Court to consider whether it was wrong to apply US patent rules when its main computers that handle the e-mails are based in Canada. NTP said the supreme court decision had "closed the final path for RIM to avoid liability for the infringement" and cleared the way for a lower court to issue the injunction.
RIM played down the significance of the failed appeal. Mark Guibert, RIM's vice president of corporate marketing said the supreme court decision had "no bearing on the merits of the outstanding issues" still pending in the Richmond, Virginia courtroom.
RIM has been preparing contingency plans. The firm has been working to develop new technologies to support its system that don't infringe the NTP patents.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique