RIM Ordered To Pay $147 Million In Lawsuit

Talk about hitting a man while he's down. Research in Motion has just lost a lawsuit brought forward by a company called Mformation Technologies. It alleged that the Blackberry maker violated its patents with its enterprise server software. The verdict orders RIM to pay $8 in royalties for every Blackberry device connected to that software.

That brings the total judgment to $147.2 million. RIM spokesperson Crystal Roberts was quoted as saying, "Research In Motion has worked hard to develop its leading-edge BlackBerry technology" in a statement. The company will not take the ruling sitting down, and it plans to take further legal action to overturn the verdict. This lawsuit dates back to 2008

The case went before a jury, which took a full four days to come to a unanimous consensus. Of course, this comes at a time when RIM really can't afford to lose a big sum of money, but no doubt this will still be tied up in appeal litigation so it'll no doubt be a while before Mformation collects the full award. Nevertheless, this is the perfect definition of adding insult to injury. In the last couple years, RIM has lost more market share in the smartphone business than most companies ever make in the first place.

[via Chicago Tribune]