Patent case targets BlackBerry again

The federal lawsuit doesn8217;t specify damages but seeks a court order that would effectively halt service. 8216;8216;Oh, no, not again,8217;8217; sighed Scott Pansky, a public-relations consultant and BlackBerry addict.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM narrowly averted a shutdown in early March by agreeing to pay 612.5 million to end a five-year patent fight with NTP Inc.

Unlike NTP, which owns patents but doesn8217;t make anything, Visto is an established communications-software company with 400 employees in 10 countries.

BlackBerry8217;s maker conceded nothing, issuing a statement saying it 8216;8216;believes Visto8217;s patents are invalid.8217;8217; Besides defending itself, the company 8216;8216;will now also consider asserting its own patents against Visto.8217;8217;

If BlackBerry users weren8217;t already feeling deja vu, consider this: NTP owns a small stake in Visto, acquired as payment for technology licenses to help Visto avoid8212;that8217;s right8212;a patent fight. 8212;James S. Granelli