The federal judge overseeing the patent infringement case against the maker of the BlackBerry portable e-mail device Tuesday rejected a request by the U.S. Justice Department to hold additional proceedings on how to exempt government users from a potential shutdown of BlackBerry service.
U.S. District Judge James Spencer turned down a request by the Justice Department to hold a separate hearing to delve into the department's concerns about the potential shutdown, something that could have further delayed the case against BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.
Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM is trying to fend off a shutdown sought by the plaintiff in the case, patent holding company NTP Inc. NTP won a 2003 patent infringement ruling against RIM in federal court in Richmond, Virginia.
"It's consistent with Judge Spencer's (earlier) announcement that he wants to wrap this case up, not prolong it," NTP lawyer James Wallace said of the decision.
Spencer's latest order came two days ahead of a crucial hearing where the judge is due to hear arguments on whether to grant NTP's request for a U.S. BlackBerry shutdown.
In a Feb. 1 filing with Spencer, the Justice Department expressed serious concerns about how a shutdown would affect government BlackBerry users.
