More sad news hits the Canadian mobile phone maker, Research In Motion, which has been on the decline since 2011. RIM was asked to pay up $147.2 million by a northern Californian jury.
Mformation, a software company had sued RIM in 2008 over a patent infringement over remote management system for wireless device held by Mformation Technologies Inc. The Attorney for Mformation, Amar Thakur said that the jury had directed RIM to pay a royalty of $8 for every BlackBerry device connected to RIM's enterprise server software. He also said that RIM might end up paying "by two to three times" for damages for future sales outside the United States, and to government customers.
The ruling from the court came at a time when, RIM was trying to get back to the fold of normality as majority of it s customers have moved on to Apple's iPhone or Google's Android based devices. Its shares have fallen by more than 70 percent over the last year. It announced out of its 16,500 staff, 5000 were to be laid off. It also announced a $518 million loss in its first quarter, with investors and analysts having grave doubts of its future.
In an article, the RIM's CEO, Thorsten Heins wrote on The Globe and Mail, "As some pundits write RIM's obituary, the company's global subscriber base continues to grow, to more than 78 million people in 175 countries. In many of those countries - some of the fastest growing markets in the world - RIM is the top smartphone; and in some, RIM devices account for the top three spots," he wrote.
RIM had argued that the claim made by Mformation was invalid as RIM was already using the process when Mformation filed its patent application. In a press release, RIM responded that it was "disappointed by the outcome" of the northern California jury and it is "evaluating all legal options".
Despite the company's current legal predicament, hope remains in it next software release date. The number of planned changes and enhancements to the new BlackBerry OS seems positive in terms of innovation. A drawback would be that too much innovation has forced a delay in its release date.
Time is crucial for the BlackBerry maker as the new operating system looks to be a key in its revival. Delays sparked disagreements within the RIM board of directors with shareholders vocally proposing that the CEO step down from his position. The reports indicate frustrated and unhappy shareholders though observers say that removing the current CEO may do more harm than good.
"Changing a number of the board members is not really going to get the new operating system developed any faster," said CMC Canada Markets analyst Colin Cieszynski.
For the time being, RIM plans to remained focus on releasing an up-to-date and possibly revolutionary software to go alongside its new smartphone.
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