Indian-American to Get $ 147.2 Million From Blackberry
Founder of Mformation, Rakesh Kushwaha took RIM to court in 2008 for infringing its patent related to software used for remotely managing a wireless device over a wireless network. The software which infringes this patent is RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). It used by corporate enterprises to manage and secure their BlackBerry devices.
The Northern California court ordered RIM to pay a royalty of $8 per device sold since 2008, excluding future royalties, past and future US government sales, or past and future non-US sales. The total award for Mformation thus amounts to $147.2 million.
A jubilant Kushwaha said, “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.”
Mformation, founded in 1999 in Delaware has a total of 27 patents under its belt, which are used in mobile device management tasks by organizations to manage and control mobile devices, wireless computing devices, consumer electronics and other machines across any network type, anywhere in the world.
RIM is disappointed and is considering appealing in the court after the trial judge decides on certain legal issues which might impact the verdict. The decision comes at the worst time for RIM, which had a first quarter loss and delayed the release of BlackBerry 10 operating system until next year. The company's stock, have recently dropped below $8 from more than $30 less than a year ago,
Amar Thakur, attorney for Mformation, however said that the legal system is such that it allows small businesses to protect their patented inventions against unauthorized use by large corporations. He added that the court’s decision will make everyone encouraged.
