RIM shares drop on patent complaint

Shares in Research In Motion Ltd. fell more than two per cent Thursday on reports that Nebraska-based Prism Technologies LLC has filed a patent infringement complaint against the BlackBerry maker.

Prism's complaint against the Waterloo, Ont.-based company could eventually result in its BlackBerry smartphones being banned from the American market.

RIM shares in the BlackBerry maker closed down $1.35 at $61.53 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Prism filed the complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington.

Prism claimed RIM's BlackBerry devices, software and servers violate its patent for a technology that controls access to protected, electronically stored data by a device using the internet. The claim singles out the BlackBerry Curve 8330, a top-selling consumer smartphone.

RIM is already fighting a lawsuit launched by Prism in a federal court in Nebraska.

Lyle Vander Schaaff, a patent lawyer with Bryan Cave in Washington, told Bloomberg that Prism may be trying to force RIM into settling the lawsuit by raising the threat of an import ban, which is within the commission's powers.

Last month, rival companies Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices reached an agreement over various patent disputes, which includes a five-year patent sharing arrangement.

Earlier this year, RIM settled a patent dispute with California-based Visto Corp., now renamed Good Technology, and agreed to pay the company $267.5 million US.