Research In Motion (RIM) will not have to pay $147.2m in damages as US District Court for the Northern District of California has overturned a dismissed an earlier verdict in a patent case filed by Mformation Technologies.
The ruling vacates an award of $147.2m in damages RIM was ordered by the jury to pay Mformation Technologies.
US District Chief Judge James Ware order ruled that "there was no legally sufficient evidentiary basis on which a reasonable jury could have found for Mformation on the issue of infringement."
In July 2012, RIM was ordered to pay penalty by a jury in California saying that RIM had infringed upon Mformation’s wireless remote device management technology, an allegation that was made in 2008.
RIM chief legal officer Steve Zipperstein said that the purpose of the patent system is to encourage innovation, but the system is still too often exploited in pursuit of other goals.
"Many policy makers have already recognized the need to address this problem and we call on others to join them as this case clearly highlights the significant need for continuing policy reform to help reduce the amount of resources wasted on unwarranted patent litigation," Zipperstein said.
Mformation has now the right to appeal the Judge’s ruling; however if Mformation successfully appeals the ruling, the jury verdict would not be reinstated and instead a new trial would occur.
Mformation Technologies provides mobile device management (MDM) technology and offers a complete solution that allows mobile operators, managed service providers and enterprises to remotely manage, support and secure all types of mobile devices across all network types.
