Research in Motion has been found liable by a federal jury for infringing on patents held by Mformation Technologies. Reuters reports that jurors have found that the Canadian hardware manufacturer had infringed on remote device management software held by the New Jersey-based Mformation, and RIM has been ordered to pay a royalty of $147.2 million. The company has already filed an appeal to reverse the verdict.
The patent at question involves mobile device management software. In RIM devices, this software appears as BlackBerry Enterprise Server, and it allows companies to remotely manage their employees’ BlackBerry devices. In 2008 Mformation sued RIM, charging that RIM had simply taken the technology that Mformation had disclosed to RIM in the course of licensing negotiations. RIM denied the validity of Mformation’s patents and claimed that it had done no wrong.
The decision means that the Canadian company will have to pay a royalty of $8 each on 18.4 million units, totaling 147.2 million. That award is for royalties on past sales; future sales could see the reward grow by two to three times in the coming years.
