Court Overturns $147.2 Million RIM Judgement, Judge Says Evidence Was Lacking In Mformation Technologies Patent Lawsuit

Research In Motion will not have to pay Mformation Technology the original $147.2 million patent infringement penalty awarded to the patent farm.

The Blackberry smartphone and tablet manufacturer appealed the original decision and a US District Court judge on Wednesday overturned the original verdict, finding that BlackBerry devices did not infringe on the Mformation Technologies patent based on provided information.

Judge James Ware also granted RIM’s motion for a new trial if his ruling is overturned. Under his ruling the original settlement is permanently tossed out and should Mformation Technologies file a likely appeal they will be battling over a new settlement.

Mformation claimed in its original case that BlackBerry devices used a remote management for wireless devices that was originally patented by the tech firm.

James Ware in hearing the appeal ruled that the original jury did not have enough evidence to reach a verdict and $147.2 million payout. Ware stated:

“The court finds that there was no ‘legally sufficient evidentiary basis’ on which a reasonable jury could have found for Mformation on the issue of the infringement.”

The lawsuit between Mformation and RIM started in 2008 with a jury trial finally beginning in June 2012. In July a jury awarded Mformation $8-per-device sold for a total of 18.4 million Blackberry smartphones.

Under the original verdict RIM would continue to pay the $8 per device price for future sales on devices that use the Mformation Technologies patents.

The RIM patent lawsuit has helped highlight major problems associated with the far reaching powers given to tech patents in the United States.