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RIM Wins UK Patent Case

malebolgia   on 03 February 2006 - 16:33 · 6 comments & 1672 views

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The High Court has ruled that the BlackBerry service can keep running in the UK.

Research in Motion secured a legal victory on Thursday when the High Court ruled that a patent claim brought against it in the UK in relation to its BlackBerry products was invalid.

InPro, a firm based in Luxembourg which acquires and licenses patents, had claimed that RIM's BlackBerry service violated its patent for a computer system that reduces the processing power used by portable computers and other devices when accessing servers over the Internet.

InPro's patent described the use of a proxy server which downloaded data from the Web in response to a request from a device, then transposed the data to match the specific size and resolution of the device, according to The Times. The patent in question was granted in 1996. The High Court found in favour of RIM, which had argued that the patent should be revoked because the 'innovation' it described was obvious.

News source: ZDNet UK




Post a comment · Send to friend Comments · There are 6 additional comments
#1 mikeyj on 03 Feb 2006 - 16:46
They best not be doing too much celebrating over in Europe. They've got to get past the might of the United States of America and the wrath there company may endure if things don't work out here.
(1 reply) #2 planetik on 03 Feb 2006 - 16:50
Go Canadian Companies Go!
#2.1 MrA on 04 Feb 2006 - 01:35
No. Go Waterloo Companies Go! :p
(1 reply) #3 em_te on 03 Feb 2006 - 18:45
Seeing as to how this case unfolded, I wonder if the Eolas patent would alse have been rejected if it was fought in the UK.
#3.1 mikeyj on 03 Feb 2006 - 19:11
Good point
#4 mrbester on 06 Feb 2006 - 10:47
"The High Court found in favour of RIM, which had argued that the patent should be revoked because the 'innovation' it described was obvious"
Indeed, even if it was in 1996. I made a similar kind of thing (ISAPI dll, wasn't pretty, hogged server resources, more a proof of concept) in 1999 to differentiate between WebTV and IE. I guess that makes me a patent violator.

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