Patent-holding company NTP is winning big with its wireless email patents. In 2006, NTP settled a lawsuit with RIM for $612 million, and in 2009 it had 67 of its patent claims — including four patents for wireless email — reviewed and declared valid by the USPTO. Emboldened by these victories, NTP is staging another coup d’état by filing a patent infringement lawsuit against six of the major mobile phone companies, including: Google, Apple, Microsoft, HTC, LG, and Motorola. Noticeably missing from this list is RIM, which is excluded from all patent infringement claims (as it signed a licensing agreement with NTP as part of its settlement), and Nokia, which has also signed a licensing agreement with NTP. Palm is also not included as it is the subject of a previous lawsuit by NTP that is currently stalled in court. Thus far, none of the companies listed in this latest suit have commented on the matter.
[Via GigaOm]
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