Ethics Newsline®

RICHMOND, Va.
Millions of U.S. users who retrieve their email through the hand-held devices called BlackBerrys won’t have their service shut off yet, although a patent suit against the Canadian firm that offers the service remains in limbo.

A federal judge gave Ontario-based Research in Motion (RIM) one last 30-day period in which to settle its dispute, according to the Globe & Mail, which noted that the ruling appears to be a last-ditch effort to prod RIM and its rival, the Virginia patent-holding firm NTP Inc., into some sort of deal over the U.S. rights to use the BlackBerry technology.

According to the Toronto Star, a clearly exasperated U.S. District Judge James Spencer warned both firms that unless they could resolve their patent dispute in a businesslike manner, they faced an “imperfect” future.

“You let this be a court decision and you’re going to get a court decision,” he said, according to the Star. “A court-imposed decision will be imperfect.”

Spencer could have halted all service for U.S. users immediately, which not only could have caused enormous inconvenience for about 3 million users, but some element of danger as well. Many government and emergency workers rely on the ubiquitous devices, the CBC reported.

Both sides in the dispute previously attempted to work out a way in which a shutdown would not involve essential and emergency services. CTV News reported that the possible shutdown of BlackBerry email prompted threats of suits from several businesses and hospitals, which claimed their operations would be compromised if an injunction shut down communications.

The patent dispute is almost unprecedented in its scope and level of brinksmanship, dating back to a 2001 suit in which NTP claimed that RIM had infringed on its patents. A U.S. jury subsequently agreed, awarding NTP a portion of U.S. BlackBerry sales.

A 2003 injunction against RIM was put on hold as the firm filed new appeals and fought for a better settlement.