Simon Avery writes on the RIM-NTP lawsuit this morning and notes that NTP is positioning the dispute as one that can be settled with a single payment. The article has the usual chest-beating from Don Stout, but what’s particularly interesting is this:
Research In Motion Ltd. can avoid losing access to the U.S. market with a single payment that comes without strings attached, says the patent holding firm that won a four-year infringement battle against the creator of the BlackBerry device.
…
Mr. Stout … said NTP remains firm in its demands. He said it is important the settlement be clear and final.
My guess is that “no strings attached’ and clear ‘and final’, while seemingly innocuous and to RIM’s favour, are NTP code for no strings attached to NTP – the notion that RIM must make any payments now and not structure them as royalties on future money, that there will be no consequences from the later invalidity of the underlying patents claimed by NTP, and that after paying the settlement RIM will not participate, or aid anyone else to do so, in any contest over the validity of the patents.
NTP’s eyes are presumably now on squeezing anyone else in this space and as it embarks on that adventure it will want cash in hand, and RIM well and truly pacified by this litigation.