Research In Motion Climbs on Settlement Talks
Shares of Research In Motion (RIMM) shot 9% higher Monday on increasing speculation that the company would ultimately settle its patent infringement dispute with NTP.
RIM's shares climbed after a
Dow Jones
story cited a National Financial analyst's report that the meeting took place.
Reuters
later reported that RIM confirmed a settlement conference took place Friday in front of a U.S. judge.
Shares of RIM closed Monday at $66.31, up $5.68, or 9.4%.
Investors are closely watching the NTP litigation, which has been a thorn in RIM's side for years. In 2003, after finding that RIM had violated NTP's patents, a federal court issued -- then stayed, pending appeal -- an injunction against RIM that would have prevented the company from selling its popular BlackBerry pagers and service in the U.S. In December, an appeals court overturned the $54 million judgment the lower court issued, but affirmed the lower court's ruling on 11 of 16 claims that RIM had infringed on NTP's patents.
The ruling sent RIM's shares into a tailspin, hitting a six-month low before Monday's reversal. News of the settlement talks comes after an announcement that privately held
Good Technology
signed a licensing agreement with NTP, adding another licensee to NTP's arsenal.