BlackBerry in trouble

The maker of the BlackBerry e-mail device lost another bid to derail the patent infringement case against it on Wednesday when U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts refused to suspend the proceedings pending a Supreme Court appeal. Roberts rejected a request by Research In Motion Ltd. to stay a lower court's patent infringement ruling while the high court decides whether to hear a RIM appeal.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM could still refile its request for a stay with one of the other Supreme Court justices. But RIM said in a statement it expected the next step in the case to be a scheduling conference before a lower court, which could be held within weeks, setting the timing for further proceedings and possibly an injunction blocking U.S. sales.

Roberts' denial comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit last week turned down a request that would have stayed the case. The case goes back to 2002, when patent holding company NTP Inc. successfully sued RIM in a lower court. It won an injunction in 2003 to halt U.S. sales of the BlackBerry and shut down its service, although that ruling was stayed pending appeal.

RIM and NTP reached a $450 million settlement on the dispute in March, but the deal fell apart in June. RIM wants the lower court to enforce the agreement. Barring a further appeal, the case will move back to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia where it was first heard by District Judge James Spencer.


[With his appointment on October 14, 1986, Judge Spencer became the first and only African-American appointed a Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.]



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