RIM open to ‘reasonable’ settlement offers from NTP

This won’t be the last story you read about the seemingly endless legal battle between RIM and NTP, but at least we are getting closer to a resolution. February 24th is the day that RIM, the makers of BlackBerry, could be forced to shut down their existing U.S. service because of patent claims by NTP. The two companies reached a settlement lat year, but it fell through. On Friday, RIM CFO Dennis Kavelman said that his company would be open to ‘reasonable’ settlement offers from NTP.

NTP is now faced with a challenging decision. The U.S. Patent Office has been rejecting their patents as they have reviewed them. It is quite possible that NTP could, at some point, be left without any patents. RIM also has been very vocal about the existence of a workaround, meaning that service for their customers would not be disrupted. NTP needs to decide whether they are in position to get their best deal now or whether waiting can improve their fortunes.