Canadian Government Supports Rehearing in US Blackberry Patent Case

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CANADIANGOVERNMENTSUPPORTSREHEARING
INUSBLACKBERRYPATENTCASE

AdamMizera*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,Lawyers
ROBIC,Patent&TrademarkAgents
CentreCDPCapital
1001Square-Victoria–BlocE–8
thFloor
Montréal,Québec,CanadaH2Z2B7
Tel.:(514)987-6242-Fax(514)845-7874
info@robic.com–www.robic.ca
FollowingaFederalCircuitjudgementin2004whichupheldalowerdistrict
courtverdictofinfringement,Research-in-Motion(RIM),themakerof
BlackBerryhandhelddevices,hasrequestedarehearingofitscaseatthe
FederalCircuitinordertoappealamulti-milliondollardamageawardand
probableinjunctionagainstitsBlackBerrysystem.InsupportofCanadian-
basedRIM,theGovernmentofCanadahasfiledanamicusbriefinsupportof
therequestforrehearing.
FactualBackground
NTPistheowneroffivepatentsgenerallyrelatedtotechnologyinvolving
systemsforintegratingexistingelectronicmailsystemswithradiofrequency
wirelesscommunicationnetworks,toenableamobileusertoreceivee-mail
overawirelessnetwork.
UsingamoreconcreteexampletoillustratehowBlackBerrytechnology
functions,ane-mailoriginatingintheUnitedStatesissentthroughtheInternet
toamailserverwhichtransfersthemessagetoaBlackBerryenterpriseserver
locatedwithintheUnitedStates.TheBlackBerryservercanthensendthe
messagetoarelaylocatedinCanada(therelayinCanadacanalsoreceive
e-mailtrafficfromseveralothercountries).Therelaycantransferthemessage
fromCanadatoaradiofrequencynetworkintheUnitedStateswhichthen
transmitsthemessagetoaBlackBerryuserlocatedintheUnitedStates.
Hence,oneofBlackBerry’sproductsand/orservices,moreparticularlythe
relay,islocatedinCanada,outsideofwhatisconsideredtobegeneralU.S.
patentjurisdiction.

©LEGERROBICRICHARD,2005*LawyerandEngineerofthelawfirmLEGERROBICRICHARD,g.p.andofthepatentand
trademarkagencyfirmROBIC,g.p.Publishedat[2005]Worlde-commerce&IPReport.
Publication274.021.

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NTPsuedRIMforpatentinfringementandobtainedafavourablejudgement
againstRIM[NTP,inc.v.ResearchinMotion,Ltd.,No.03-1615,(Fed.Cir.
Dec.14,2004)].Basedonclaimconstruction,boththedistrictcourtandthe
CourtofAppealsoftheFederalCircuitdeterminedthatthelocationofthe
RIM’srelayinCanadadoesnotpreventapplicationofUSpatentlawstothe
overallBlackBerrysystem.
UnderU.S.Patentlaw(35U.S.C.271(a)),infringementofapatentrightis
consideredtooccurwhenanindividual,withoutauthority,makes,uses,offers
tosell,orsellsanypatentedinvention,withintheUnitedStates.Asshown
above,certainelementsofRIM’stechnologyarelocatedinCanada.
However,theFederalCircuitfoundthatthewordingofsection271(a)does
notpreventRIM’sBlackBerrysystemfrominfringingNTP’spatents,whenRIM’s
technologyisusedwithintheUnitedStates,eventhoughacomponentof
thatsystemisphysicallylocatedoutsidetheUnitedStates.Thestandardset
outbytheCourtcanbeconsideredtobealessrestrictiveinterpretationof
theterritorialityrestrictionsofU.S.Patentlaw.Indeed,theCourtstatedthetest
hasnotbeingwhetherinfringementtookplacewithintheUnitedStates,but
whether“controlandbeneficialuse”oftheinfringingsystemortechnology
waswithintheUnitedStates.
CanadianGovernmentAmicusBrief
TheGovernmentofCanada’ssupportofRIM’srehearingrequesthasfound
othersupportersamongtheCanadianbusinesscommunity,includingthe
CanadianChamberofCommerceandtheInformationTechnology
AssociationinCanada.BeinganimportanttradingpartnerwiththeUnited
Statesasitshareswithitthelargestbilateraltradingrelationshipintheworld,
theGovernmentofCanadastatedinitsbriefthatithasastronginterestinthe
protectionofintellectualpropertyrightsandinensuringthatsuchrights
includingpatentrightsareclearandpredictablewhilerespectingliabilities
thatmayariseundertheapplicablelaws.
Initsbrief,theCanadiangovernmentfurtherstatesthattheFederalCircuit
decisionwassusceptibletointerpretationsthatmayhave“unfortunate,and
unintendedconsequences,affectingCanada’sinterest,aswellastheinterest
ofCanadiancompaniescarryingonmulti-jurisdictionaloperations”.More
particularly,thegovernmentarguesthat,giventheFederalCircuitdecision,
section271(a)maybeapplieddifferentlyinainconsistentmanner
dependingonwhetherpotentialinfringingconductoccursentirelywithinthe
UnitedStates,orpartlywithinUnitedStatesandpartlyoutsidetheUnited
States.Hence,theCourt’sinterpretationmayresultinanappropriate
extraterritorialapplicationofpatentlawscontrarilytobasicprinciplesof

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comity,thepracticeofcourtesyexistingbetweencountriessuchasthe
UnitedStatesandCanada,wherebythelawsandinstitutionofeachareto
berecognizedandrespectedbytheother.
Giventheincreasingnumberofbusinessesthatconductintegrated
operationsacrosstheCanada/UnitedStatesborder,includingnetwork,
telecommunicationsande-commercecompanies,theFederalCircuit
decisionisconsideredtohaveapotentialofbeingappliedinan
inappropriatelyextraterritorialordiscriminatoryfashionandconsequently
disruptthebusinessandlegalclimateinCanada.
Iftherehearingrequestisgranted,theFederalCircuitappeal’sCourtwilltake
anotherlookattheRIM’sargumentthatthelimitsofUnitedStatesjurisdiction
meanthattheallegedlyinfringedpatentsdonotapplytotheBlackBerry
system(whichisusedbyoveramillionusersintheUnitedStates).Closurein
thiscasewillsetanimportantprecedentinthedebateonaterritorial
applicationofpatentlawtotechnologiesrelatedtotheInternetore-
commercelocatedindifferentcountries.

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