Patent spat costs RIM $6.5m and counting

BlackBerry maker RIM (Research In Motion) has spent $6.5m in the last three months on efforts to settle its legal impasse with NTP, the company said.

RIM disclosed the amount as part of its statement of first-quarter financial results. It is currently negotiating settlement terms in a licensing pact, potentially worth $450m, with the Virginia-based patent-holding company.

A federal appeals court ruled last year that RIM had infringed on NTP's intellectual property. The two sides were hammering out terms as part of a 16 March agreement when the talks broke down earlier this month. Details haven't been made public but the US Patent Trademark Office is currently reviewing the conditions of the eight patents in question, which NTP owns.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM has been able to continue selling its wireless BlackBerry devices in the United States while a federal court of appeals reviews the case. The court is expected to send the case back to the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for consideration.

Despite the legal wrangling, RIM is toasting a milestone. The company said in its earnings statement that its subscriber base has pushed past the three million mark, thanks to the addition of 592,000 members in the first quarter, ended 28 May.

RIM also reported its first-quarter revenue hit $453.9m, up 12 per cent compared with the previous quarter. The breakdown in revenue was approximately 69 per cent for handhelds, 17 per cent for service, 11 per cent for software and three per cent for other revenue, the company said.

RIM's shares closed at $75.91, down 69 cents or almost one per cent on the previous day's close.

Michael Singer writes for CNET News.com