Smartphone Thoughts: NTP Makes More Waves in the BlackBerry Pool

"NTP Inc, which last year won a $612.5 million settlement from the maker of Blackberry, has sued four of the top U.S. mobile service providers for infringing eight patents related to wireless e-mail. The lawsuits, against Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel Corp, T-Mobile USA and the mobile unit of AT&T Inc were filed September 7 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, according to court documents. NTP, which is asserting patents related to products, processes and services used for wireless e-mail systems, said it was seeking a jury trial, injunctive relief and monetary damages."

I think a lot of us figured the legal problems would be over once NTP and RIM settled. It appears that's just not the case. So now the carriers are forced to pay up too. It's worth noting that Microsoft has extended their IP protection back in February of 2006 to fully cover Windows Mobile and Windows Embedded. The strengthened indemnification benefits the original device manufacturers, independent software vendors, and distributors against legal problems that might arise from using Windows Mobile. (Press Release) That means i-mate, Motorola, Samsung, HTC, Pantech, Cingular, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, Rogers, Fido, Telus, Bell, Orange, or whoever made your phone or is providing you a service on your phone are safe from lawsuits like the one NTP has just filed. So, no lawsuits for using Windows Mobile. Seems like a big advantage to me, especially with the never-ending NTP legal machine.