Posted by Heidi Bleau on 5/02/05

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I work in marketing at UTEK-EKMS. We are a boutique IP
management consulting firm. I certainly understand
the "business" of IP, but please pardon my lack of
knowledge in IP law.

The recent decision by RIM to pay NTP $450 million, only to
have NTP's patents later invalidated, really disturbs me.
Are they still responsible to abide by the licensing
agreement or does the agreement become null and void based
on the decision to invalidate the NTP patents? Is there
any kind of protection under existing IP laws for RIM?

Is it "legal" to build clauses in a licensing agreement
that state if any patent is found to be invalid at some
point in the future, then the licensee is due back fees
and/or no longer responsible for paying additional
fees/royalties?

What are/will be the legal implications of all this?

I look forward to hearing from people who can help me
answer some of these questions. I find this case
fascinating.

RIM pays NTP: Legal Implications, 5/02/05, by Heidi Bleau.

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