RIM vanquishes InPro patent claim

RIM secured a legal victory on Thursday when the High Court ruled that a patent claim brought against it in the UK in relation to its BlackBerry products was invalid.

InPro, a firm based in Luxembourg which acquires and licenses patents, had claimed that RIM's BlackBerry service violated its patent for a computer system that reduces the processing power used by portable computers and other devices when accessing servers over the internet.

InPro's patent described the use of a proxy server which downloaded data from the web in response to a request from a device, then transposed the data to match the specific size and resolution of the device, according to The Times. The patent in question was granted in 1996.

The High Court found in favour of RIM, which had argued that the patent should be revoked because the 'innovation' it described was obvious. Full details of the ruling were not released, possibly because it could contain confidential technical information.

If RIM had lost, then its BlackBerry service could have been turned off in the UK.

Although this victory is good news for RIM, it has no effect on the long-running patent battle with NTP in the US.

Lawyers for RIM and NTP are scheduled to give final arguments later this month before a Virginia judge, who could reimpose an injunction on the sales of BlackBerry devices in the US. NTP has won several court victories so far but RIM has prevailed on the US Patent and Trademark Office to call NTP's patents into question.

Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet UK