August 9, 2012 - In a dramatic turn of events for BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM), the judge in its patent litigation with Mformation Technologies granted RIM's motion for a judgment as a matter of law and vacated the $147.2 million damages award.
A judgment as a matter of law is a motion made by a party to a lawsuit to claim that the opposing party does not have sufficient evidence to prove its case. The judge found that Mformation lacked the evidence to prove RIM's alleged infringement - so RIM will pay nothing to Mformation. And even if Mformation successfully appeals the decision, the jury decision will still be moot and the parties would have to go through a new trial.
Mformation sued RIM in 2008 for infringement of patents related to remote management of devices.