Blackberry Saved

Well, CEOs all over the world (not to mention our own) can heave a sigh of relief. As ZDNet has it, "The long-running BlackBerry saga appears to be over."

Research In Motion and NTP have agreed to settle the patent dispute over the BlackBerry device for $612.5 million, the companies announced in a press release on Friday. Under the agreement, RIM will receive a license to NTP's patents going forward, they said.

The agreement involves a one-time payment to NTP, RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie said during a Friday afternoon conference call. Even if the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office eventually overturns NTP's patents, NTP will not have to repay the $612.5 million. "There is no provision for the PTO re-exam. This is a full and final settlement," he said.

"It's very important we got the scope we wanted. The scope relates to all of NTP's patents and relates to all of RIM's products," Balsillie added. "We really did this to give certainty, and calmness and comfort to our ecosystem."

Great - now we don't have to worry about RD missing important messages from RS or JTC.