2006

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  • Jan. 17, 2006 - NTP proposes 30-day grace period before any cut-off of BlackBerry service to U.S. users, and also says federal, state and local government users of the BlackBerry should be exempt from a halt in U.S. service.
  • Feb. 9, 2006 - RIM says it has tested software workaround designs for BlackBerry service in the U.S. market, if needed.
  • Feb. 17, 2006 - RIM says it remains open to a "reasonable" settlement with NTP.
  • Feb. 22, 2006 - U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues final rejection of one of the five disputed patents owned by NTP Inc.
  • Feb. 23, 2006 - RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie tells a technology conference in Whistler, B.C., that the company has developed and tested a way to continue to allow BlackBerry service to continue in the U.S., should a judge order it to immediately stop infringing on NTP patents. Balsillie also says the company would be willing to boost its payment to NTP to settle the dispute.
  • Feb. 24, 2006 - U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer declines to issue an injunction that would have immediately shut down BlackBerry service to American customers. In his ruling, the judge said it was clear that RIM had infringed on NTP patents. He said he would decide on damages and whether to eventually issue an injunction "as soon as reasonably possible." NTP had asked for an immediate injunction that would have shut down BlackBerry after 30 days, as well $126 million in damages. Royalty payments would be on top of that award. Observers said the judge appeared upset that the two parties had not resolved the dispute on their own.
  • March 3, 2006 - Research in Motion and NTP finally announce a settlement of their long-running patent dispute. RIM agrees to pay NTP $612.5 million US to settle all claims and for a "perpetual, paid-up licence going forward." Under terms of the deal, NTP will give RIM the "unfettered right" to continue all of its BlackBerry services. The agreement allows RIM to sell all of its products and services without the need to pay further royalty payments to NTP. RIM's wireless carriers, partners, suppliers and customers will not have to pay licensing or royalty fees to NTP. The settlement is approved by the court and all NTP litigation against RIM is dismissed. Research in Motion has already put aside $450 million to account for a possible settlement. The additional $162.5 million US will be reflected as a charge in the fourth quarter. In a separate announcement, RIM warns that the number of new subscribers to its BlackBerry service will fall short of expectations by as much as 120,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter. The uncertainty caused by the dispute with NTP was evidently causing many potential customers to either put off their BlackBerry purchases or choose a competing wireless product, like Palm's Treo. For RIM and its customers, the uncertainty is now over. BlackBerry service will not be shut off.

Corporate Milestones

  • RIM surpassed the 5 million subscriber milestone
  • RIM acquired Ascendent Systems

Product Announcements

  • CESG approved BlackBerry for use by government workers handling restricted data in the U.K.
  • BlackBerry WLAN Solution Enhances Productivity for On-Campus Mobile Workers through Wireless Data Access and Wireless VoIP
  • RIM launched BlackBerry Enterprise Server™ v4.1 and BlackBerry Enterprise Server – Small Business Edition v4.1 for Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and Novell GroupWise
  • RIM launched BlackBerry Enterprise Server Express™ for small and medium-sized businesses, branch offices and companies new to BlackBerry – available as a free download from RIM to any customer who purchases a new BlackBerry device
  • RIM announces BlackBerry Enterprise Server for MDS Applications to provide organizations the ability to deploy wireless applications independent of email
  • RIM introduces the UMTS-enabled BlackBerry 8707 Wireless Handheld - UMTS support enables users to simultaneously send and receive email, browse the Internet and use other applications while speaking on the phone, even while the handset is being used as a tethered modem
  • RIM Announces Hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Server to enable service providers to offer a hosted managed service of the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution to Small and Medium Sized Businesses

Partnerships & Alliances

  • Yahoo! and RIM announced an expanded global relationship
  • RIM and IBM announced plans for further collaboration to mobilize enterprise applications to the BlackBerry platform
  • RIM announced BlackBerry Connect for the Sony Ericsson P990 and M600 phones.
  • RIM announced support for Google Talk™ and Google Local on the BlackBerry wireless platform
  • RIM announces agreements and launches on carriers around the globe, including
  • RIM announced plans to launch BlackBerry service in China with China Mobile
  • SouthernLINC announced plans to introduce BlackBerry in the U.S.
  • NTELOS in the U.S
  • Cbeyond in the U.S
  • Etisalat in the United Arab Emirates
  • China Mobile in China
  • KT Powertel in Korea
  • Vodafone Fiji in Fiji
  • PCCW in Hong Kong
  • Mobiltel in Bulgaria
  • NTT DoCoMo in Japan
  • Taiwan Mobile in Taiwan
  • U.S. Cellular in the U.S
  • Movilnet in Venezuela
  • COSMOTE in Greece
  • Dialog Telekom in Sri Lanka

Awards

  • BlackBerry receives the
  • CNET.com Editor’s Choice Award
  • Brandweek Customer Loyalty Awards powered by Brand Keys
  • PC Magazine's Best PDA Award
  • Best of FOSE Award

SOURCE: RIM, CBC, Various

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