Bid for another BlackBerry hearing denied

The federal judge overseeing the patent infringement case against the maker of the BlackBerry portable e-mail device Tuesday rejected a request by the U.S. Justice Department to hold additional proceedings on how to exempt government users from a potential shutdown of BlackBerry service.

U.S. District Judge James Spencer turned down a request by the Justice Department to hold a separate hearing to delve into the department's concerns about the potential shutdown, something that could have further delayed the case against BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM is trying to fend off a shutdown sought by the plaintiff in the case, patent holding company NTP Inc. NTP won a 2003 patent infringement ruling against RIM in federal court in Richmond, Virginia.

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"It's consistent with Judge Spencer's (earlier) announcement that he wants to wrap this case up, not prolong it," NTP lawyer James Wallace said of the decision.

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Spencer's latest order came two days ahead of a crucial hearing where the judge is due to hear arguments on whether to grant NTP's request for a U.S. BlackBerry shutdown.

In a Feb. 1 filing with Spencer, the Justice Department expressed serious concerns about how a shutdown would affect government BlackBerry users.