A federal judge in Virginia said Wednesday that it was "highly unlikely" he would delay a patent case against the maker of the BlackBerry wireless e-mail device that could result in a ban on its use in the United States.
The company, Research In Motion, based in Waterloo, Ontario, requested the delay until the United States Patent and Trademark Office re-examines patents held by NTP, based in Arlington, Va. Three years ago, NTP successfully sued R.I.M., contending patent infringement. That award was held up to permit R.I.M.'s ultimately unsuccessful appeal.
Judge James R. Spencer of Federal District Court in Richmond told R.I.M. he was unlikely to review the patent office actions. He gave NTP until Thursday to request that he activate an injunction against the BlackBerry granted three years ago.
R.I.M. has until Nov. 21 to reply and to ask the court to impose a settlement the companies reached in March. That deal fell apart.
Details here from the New York Times.