RIM's lawyer Henry Bunsow is adamant: the five patents registered by Thomas Campana - an electrical engineer who developed the technology in the mid-80s for private U.S. firm Telefind Corp - and administered by the holding company NTP, Inc., cover a device that was "old technology" - i.e., much more like a pager that receives e-mail than a dedicated wireless e-mail device such as a BlackBerry.

Bunsow made this assertion yesterday to a federal appeals court panel. The three-judge U.S. Circuit Court has to decide whether or not to uphold the $53.7 million in costs and damages awarded to NTP Inc. last August, when the court barred the sale of RIM's BlackBerry line of mobile wireless organizers and software from the United States - a ban that was stayed pending this week's appeal.

Reuters reports that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office "is taking a second look at the patents which could also affect the case."