RIM settles patent fight over BlackBerry data
updated 01:45 pm EDT, Tue May 18, 2010
RIM settles with Prism to avoid BlackBerry ban
RIM today settled out of court with Prism to avoid a possible trade ban on the BlackBerry. Omaha, Nebraska-based Prism asked to dismiss both a federal court case and an International Trade Commission case saying that RIM had agreed to both settle and to license patents for authenticating online services. None of the financial terms were mentioned as part of the truce.
The cases had begun in 2008 when Prism sued both RIM and Microsoft for similar complaints; it singled out the BlackBerry Curve 8330 as one example and would have banned this and likely all of RIM's line from coming into the US without a deal. Microsoft had quietly settled on its own in September of last year.
Settlements are common in patent disputes as many larger companies would rather pay a small portion of their hardware revenue than finish a trial in court and risk a permanent ban.
