Blackberry users are facing another shutdown threat to
their push e-mail service following a new patent battle in the
US.
Mobile e-mail provider Visto has won $3.6m (£2m) in damages
from its rival Seven Networks for patent infringement.
As soon as it won the case, Visto announced it would sue
Blackberry manufacturer RIM, claiming patent infringement. Visto
also has ongoing patent cases against Microsoft and Good Technology
for the same type of technology.
RIM paid $612.5m to settle a similar, long-running patent
dispute with patent-holding company NTP in March.
Before the settlement, the Blackberry service in the US faced
shutdown.
Three of the four patents that Visto claims RIM has infringed
are the same as those in Visto’s successful lawsuit against
Seven.
Visto had originally sought more than $12m in damages from Seven
in relation to six patents, but the court upheld only the claims
linked to three patents.
Seven said it would be offering a workaround to allow its users
to continue using their devices based on its push e-mail
technology.
This was the same response made by RIM when it lost its case
with NTP, but analysts said such a solution would have
inconvenienced users and may not have worked.
RIM has so far not responded to Visto's lawsuit.