A U.S. appeals court scaled back a December ruling that had upheld patent-infringement charges against Research In Motion, the Canadian company that makes the BlackBerry wireless e-mail device.

Shares of the company moved higher following the news, amid hopes the decision could stretch out legal proceedings and delay a potential court injunction that would halt U.S. BlackBerry sales.

.S. patent holding company NTP successfully sued RIM (RIMM) for patent infringement and later won an injunction, stayed pending appeal, to halt U.S. sales of RIM’s popular BlackBerry.

In the latest decision, the appeals court overturned the lower court’s finding that RIM had infringed upon NTP’s “method” patents, but reaffirmed the infringement of patents covering the e-mail “system.”

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Time shares: Time Warner is setting aside $3 billion in reserves to settle shareholder lawsuits filed against the company in the wake of its disastrous merger with AOL.

Time Warner (TWX) announced it had reached a tentative settlement with the lead group of shareholder plaintiffs, who claimed they were cheated in the merger by inflated revenue claims and improper accounting at AOL.

The company also said it had authorized a program to buy back $5 billion of its own shares over the next two years, a step shareholders had been clamoring for as a way to boost its lagging share price.

The $2.4 billion settlement will benefit shareholders who bought shares of AOL or Time Warner between Jan. 27, 1999, and Aug. 27, 2002. The agreement marks the latest milestone in Time Warner’s efforts to put the devastating effects of its merger with AOL behind it.

Mighty mouse: Apple Computer introduced its first mouse with multiple buttons, including four sensors and a tiny scroll ball. Although a departure from the company’s traditional mouse, the Mighty Mouse looks very similar to the single-button model Apple has long produced

Posted by Administrator in Sci/Tech News