Patent Office rejects another NTP patent
RIM clears another hurdle in its dispute with NTP, as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues a non-final rejection of a fifth patent.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a non-final rejection of a fifth patent in NTP's legal battle with Research In Motion, a case that threatens to shut down most of RIM's U.S. BlackBerry e-mail service, a lawyer for NTP said Wednesday.
The decision means the patent agency has now issued non-final rejections of all five patents at issue in a BlackBerry patent infringement case pending before a federal judge.
NTP lawyer James Wallace said the patent holding company now has 30 days to respond to the decision. After that, the Patent Office can render a final decision, which could then go before a patent appeals board for further proceedings.