BlackBerry in a jam over patents

The BlackBerry handheld messaging device is in danger of being devoured by a row over patents.

Would-be nemesis NTP is trying to close down Research in Motion, the manufacturer of the BlackBerry devices, after winning a patent infringement court case.

This is despite pleas from Congress officials not to shut down the company.

NTP was awarded $23.1m (£14.45m) in damages, which may yet be tripled, and asked Judge James Spencer for a permanent injunction that would effectively put Research in Motion out of business.

A hearing has been scheduled for the end of the month.

But the director of the US patent office has taken the rare step of ordering a review of five patents held by NTP which proved central to winning the case, according to the New York Times.

NTP claims that Research In Motion has been unfairly lobbying the Patent and Trademark Office.

The newspaper reported that the chief administrative officer of the House of Representatives, James Eagen III, has written to both sides pleading that the service be allowed to continue.

The letter said that members and staff depended on the BlackBerry service for daily communications and business operations, and that the House relied on the device in emergencies.