RIM's Troubles and Canadian Patents

Reports of RIM's demise may be premature but the company's precarious situation might be a concern for officials at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. For the better part of a decade, RIM has been one of CIPO's best customers; since 2005-2006 it has consistently ranked as the top patent applicant in Canada. Last year RIM filed 569 new patent applications and received 244 patents. RIM's application and examination fees and the maintenance fees its pays on its large portfolio of patents represent a fair bit of income for the CIPO. The current standard filing fee for a patent application is $400, so RIM's 569 applications last year would have cost at least $227,000. If RIM dramatically reduces the number of applications it files, or stops filing altogether, it will cost the CIPO hundreds of thousands in lost revenue. If RIM sells all or part of its patent portfolio, then presumably the new owners would continue to pay the maintenance fees in order to prevent the patents from expiring.

Nortel's Patent Plum

Nortel Networks, one of Canada's leading telecommunication technology companies during the 20th century, is bankrupt and in the process of selling off its assets, including its hefty portfolio of thousands of patents and other intellectual property. This week a high profile spat broke out between two rival bidders, Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, and mobile phone giant Ericsson. Nationalism is partly to blame (RIM is a Canadian company) but also at issue is the fate of Nortel's patents. RIM is keen get Nortel's patents related to wireless LTE technology.

By rough count, Nortel's patent portfolio includes more than 3,500 granted U.S. patents, some 760 published patent applications, and approximately 1,000 Canadian patents and pending applications. Thousands more were granted under its former name, Northern Electric Co., which it officially changed in the early 1990s. This is probably one of the largest patent firesales in history.