Mformation has been awarded $147.2 million damages by a jury that found Research in Motion guilty of infringing on a patent relating to mobile device management.
The software found to infringe Mformation's patent is used on RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). The court awarded Mformation $147.2 million dollars in damages based on past sales of BES-connected BlackBerry smartphones in the US from late 2008, when the lawsuit was filed, up to the trial date.
A RIM statement said that it considers Mformation's patent not be valid, and said it was "disappointed by the outcome and is evaluating all legal options". RIM added that the trial judge has yet to decide certain legal issues that might impact the verdict, so the Canadian device manufacturer will await those rulings before deciding whether to pursue an appeal.
“Mformation created the mobile device management category in the late 1990s and was innovating in this area well before most of the market understood the fundamental importance of wireless mobility management. Our patents are a core part of our innovative products, and are fundamental to the methods used for device management in the market today,” said patent inventor and Mformation founder/CTO Rakesh Kushwaha
Wireless patent specialist and blogger Florian Meuller has criticised the award, saying that similar judgements would make smartphones unnaffordable. Meuller's view is that the figure of $8 royalty per device is over-inflated and he has called for the judgement to be over-turned: " this verdict must be overturned at the earliest opportunity".