Patent Office Rejects 3rd NTP Patent In Non Final Action

TORONTO -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected a third NTP Inc. patent in another non-final office action.

The patent, 5,436,960, is one of the five at the center of the long-running dispute between NTP Inc. and Research In Motion Ltd., maker of the BlackBerry wireless handheld device. The case has been in the headlines of late because, barring a settlement, a Virginia Court judge could soon rule on whether to ban Research In Motion's BlackBerry service in the U.S.

The PTO has already rejected all five NTP patents in so called first office actions. Now it's well on the way to rejecting all five patents a second time around. This is significant because NTP has had an opportunity to challenge the PTO's first office actions, yet the PTO continues to rule against the patents.

So far the PTO has issued three non-final, or second-office actions, rejecting all claims in all the patents. The patents are the 6,067,451 patent, the 5,625,670 patent and the 960 patent.

The language in Friday's rejection was toned down slightly compared to the other second-office actions. Specifically, the PTO said the next office action on the 670 patent is expected to be a final action. It didn't indicate that the PTO expects to reject all claims in that final action. In the second office actions for the 451 and 670 patent the PTO indicated it expects its next action to be a final rejection of all claims in those patents.

According to a source, the 960 patent contained three of the 16 disputed claims in Research In Motion's long-running dispute with NTP. Two of those claims were thrown out on appeal and one was remanded to the Virginia court.

While many Research In Motion, or RIM, watchers expect the company to settle the case for as much as $1 billion rather than risk an injunction, the source said he doesn't believe the court can ignore the PTO's latest moves and issue an injunction.

NTP has indicated in the past it's entitled to appeal the PTO's findings to a PTO appeals board. If the patents are rejected in that appeal, it can appear to federal court, the Virginia patent concern has said. The process can take years, far to long to save RIM from an injunction, NTP has said.

On Nasdaq Friday, RIM is down $2.29, or 3.5%, to $62.44 on about 3.2 million shares. The company is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter financial results Dec. 21.

Company Web Site: http://www.rim.net

-Stuart Weinberg, Dow Jones Newswires; 416-306-2026;
stuart.weinberg@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 16th December 2005