Last year, RIM paid over $600 million to settle the suit brought by NTP, which accused the BlackBerry maker of infringing on some of its patents related to wireless email.
The new lawsuits brought against the wireless telecommunications companies are also related to wireless email.
The carriers are AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon.
NTP made this move, despite the fact that the patents in question are under review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), and, although the Patent Office has not yet declared them invalid, it said in 2005 that it is likely to do so. "The patent owner's arguments are deemed nonpersuasive," the Patent Office wrote. "The next office action is expected to be a final rejection of all current claims."
NTP filed a similar similar patent infringement lawsuit against Palm, Inc. late last year. Palm was able to get this put on hold, pending the Patent Office's review.
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Kate Gerwig, Editorial Director