RIM wins appeal against $147m fine in Mformation patent case

Back on July the 16th we brought you the news that RIM had been made to pay $147 million to MFormation after losing a patent dispute. Thankfully, the ailing smartphone vendor RIM has caught a slight break after winning the appeal. It means the company gets out of a huge $147 million fine.

The case goes back to 2008 when the US mobile device management software firm sued RIM, accusing it of infringing a patent covering a process that remotely manages a wireless device over a wireless network. Last month, the jury ruled in favor of Mformation and ordered RIM to pay an $8 royalty fee on every BlackBerry device connected to its Enterprise Server Software.

RIM appealed the verdict insisting that Mformation’s patent was already being used before it filed for the patent, therefore making its patent invalid since someone else had already developed it.

The judge concluded that the evidence submitted by RIM and Mformation “did not support the Jury’s finding of patent infringement” and overturned the jury award. MFormation can appeal, but it seems unlikely they would emerge victorious.

“We appreciate the Judge’s careful consideration of this case. RIM did not infringe on Mformation’s patent and we are pleased with this victory, The purpose of the patent system is to encourage innovation, but the system is still too often exploited in pursuit of other goals” said Steve Zipperstein, RIM’s Chief Legal Officer.

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