Blackberry Owners Can Breath a [Momentary] Sigh of Relief

If you are one of the nearly 3.2 million Blackberry users in the United States, you can stop holding your breath for now.

Over five years ago, NPT, Inc. filed a lawsuit asserting patent infringement against Blackberry maker, Research in Motion, Ltd., alleging that the Blackberry mobile e-mail device infringed NPT's patents describing how e-mail is sent over wireless networks to devices with mobile computer processors.

Throughout the litigation, NPT sought an injunction shutting down Blackberry service in the United States, which would have caused a massive disruption for all businesses that use the device as well as public and private users.

In March, just a few days before a judge was expected to issue such an injunction, RIM agreed to pay a whopping $612.5 million to NPT, allowing Blackberry users to breath a sigh of relief for now.

Now Visto Corporation, a company that provides e-mail software to cell phone companies, has filed a lawsuit against RIM asserting, you guessed it, patent infringement. According to Visto's chairman, Visto is not interested in money and will only seek an injunction shutting down Blackberry service. The good news is that the litigation was filed this month, so users will still have a few years before an injunction may be issued. The bad news is that if Visto is successful, you may be in the market for a new PDA.