Click to View

In the same week that it settled its patent infringement suit with Handspring, Research In Motion (RIM) and Palm, Inc.'s Solutions Group announced that they have signed an agreement in principle setting out the fundamental terms under which RIM will license certain RIM keyboard patents to Palm. Specific terms of the royalty-bearing license were not disclosed.

"RIM continues to license its patents and technologies to reputable companies to expand the market opportunities for its industry-leading research and development," said Jim Balsillie, Chairman and Co-CEO at Research In Motion. "This agreement with Palm is a result of RIM's ability to innovate and deliver proven and popular mobile solutions such as BlackBerry."

No doubt the agreement was reached as a result of the similarity between the keyboard found on Palm's upcoming Tungsten W wireless handheld slated to be available early next year and RIM's Blackberry Wireless Handheld. "The coupling of RIM's keyboard technology in our upcoming Tungsten W wireless handheld with the wealth of software applications available for Palm handhelds helps us deliver versatile and innovative wireless products to mobile professionals and enterprises," said Todd Bradley, President and CEO, Solutions Group at Palm, Inc. "With this agreement, we're both working to expand the wireless marketplace and provide people with critical information on the go."

Back in September, Research In Motion sued Handspring, alleging that certain devices in the Treo Communicator series (Treo k180, Treo 270 and Treo 300) infringed a patent associated with keyboard features implemented in RIM's BlackBerry handhelds.