Patent Law—Patented System Infringes Under 35 U.S.C. § 271 When Control and Beneficial Use Occurs Within United States—NTP, Inc. v. Research In Motion, Ltd., 418 F.3d 1282 (Fed. Cir. 2005)

Research in Motion (RIM), a high-technology company located in Ontario, Canada, sells the popular BlackBerry wireless electronic mail (email) service to consumers in the United States and abroad.  Yet when the company first deployed the BlackBerry system in Canada back in the late 1990s, it had no idea that its service might some day be shut down for infringing an invention patented in the United States.  RIM, like many other high-technology companies who sell products and services to a global marketplace, is discovering that its conduct outside the United States could violate United States patent law under 35 U.S.C. § 271.  Congress enacted § 271 to proscribe extraterritorial conduct that affects commerce and patented rights within the United States.  In NTP, Inc. v. Research in Motion, Ltd., the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) considered whether RIM’s BlackBerry system, a major component of which was deployed in Canada, infringed NTP, Inc.’s (NTP) patents on a wireless email system.  The court held that RIM was liable for infringement because its users controlled and benefited from the system within the United States in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271. . . .