BlackBerry dodges blackout bullet for now

SearchMobileComputing.com reports that "U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer declined to enforce an immediate injunction that would have blacked out BlackBerry service nationwide. The ruling is a small victory for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM) in the vexing patent infringement suit filed more than four years ago by NTP Inc."

According to the article, "Spencer, however, issued a stern warning to RIM, telling the company that it did infringe on NTP's patents and a ruling on the injunction would come soon. Some experts said they expect Spencer to rule on the injunction next week."

Daniel Taylor at the Mobile Enterprise Weblog said, "This is like sudden death overtime. Starting on Monday, the Court could announce its findings at any point, and there could be an immediate imposition of the injunction. Or things could go the other way, or they could drag on for several more weeks."

Jack Gold at J.Gold Associates said, "I'm not surprised the judge didn't issue an immediate injunction. There's no way to know what this really means." Gold pointed out the final "decision could take anywhere from weeks to months," and advised to "Stay tuned."

Over at TechNewsWorld, Info-Tech Research Group analyst Carmi Levy said, "The stakes in the hearing were extremely high, with an injunction able to alter the "North American mobile landscape." A drawn-out court battle could "drag down mobile e-commerce adoption rates and serve as a disincentive for innovative vendors to enter the space. The United States and Canada are already losing their competitive edge on the global stage, and an injunction won't help matters."

Levy added that a RIM victory could help "take the brakes off" wireless adoption by giving companies confidence in the BlackBerry platform.

Umm, yeah. This doom and gloom scenario from Levy is way over the top. Maybe he was misquoted or taken out of context. A RIM injunction would be an inconvenience for "crackberry" addicts and the company, but will it really "drag down mobile e-commerce adoption rates and serve as a disincentive for innovative vendors to enter the space?"

The last I checked there was plenty of mobile innovation and adoption taking place without a Blackberry in sight. It's a freakin' mobile email device primarily used by businesses to conduct business. It's not curing cancer or world hunger or even helping companies run their core business processes.

Sensationalistic quotes might spice up the copy, but is this really what you want from an analyst? Going out on a limb and making a prediction is better than hemming and hawing and playing things safe. Just leave the tabloid-like quotes for the supermarket register stands...