One of the most intense legal battles in the mobile industry has come an end, as Research In Motion (RIM) and Good Technology have announced the signing of an agreement that in effect declares peace between the two mobile messaging and data specialists.

Not much is known about the deal, other than that it takes the form of a settlement and a licensing agreement. The companies have entered a royalty-bearing license agreement whereby RIM will receive a lump sum settlement during the first quarter of fiscal 2005 as well as ongoing quarterly royalties.

The legal wrangling started between the two companies back in May of 2002 when Good launched a preemptive lawsuit on RIM's patent on single unified e-mail. The suit came in anticipation of Good's being sued by RIM for patent infringement. It would have been impossible for RIM not to sit up and take notice of Good. After all, Good first offered its wireless e-mail service on RIM's BlackBerry handhelds before moving onto its own devices.

RIM went after Good in June 2002, alleging that Good Technology's wireless goods and services infringed on four RIM patents within RIM's Wireless Integration Patent Portfolio. RIM then ratcheted up the fight by filing two suits in July 2002-- one alleging that Good Technology infringed on a portion of RIM's Copyright Portfolio associated with the user interface in its BlackBerry handhelds, and one saying that Good Technology engaged in unfair competition, false advertising, trademark infringement and trademark dilution.

A fourth suit launched by RIM claimed that Good took customer information from RIM. In a hearing, RIM applied for a preliminary injunction in the California Superior Court seeking to stay Good from using that data. But Good claimed that it is no longer using the allegedly misappropriated information, which lead to the court to refuse RIM's injunction request.

While the agreement between Good and RIM puts an ugly chapter behind each company, as they attempt to expand their wireless email and data solutions to additional platforms, including the Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian OS, RIM still has a suite from a company called NTP haunting it.

The NTP suite alleges patent infringement on the part of RIM. A U.S. District Court judge ruled last summer that RIM had to stop selling BlackBerry handhelds in the U.S., its largest market, because technology within the two-way wireless devices infringed on NTP patents. The judge also fined RIM $53 million dollars. RIM received a reprieve on the judge's order pending the result of an appeal.