Last November, the patent holding company that plagued Research In Motion (RIM) for years, before scoring a $612.5 million settlement from the wireless e-mail leader, launched a similar lawsuit against Palm, Inc. in the very same court, the United States District Court for the Eastern Division of Virginia.

Today, the same Judge that presided over the RIM case granted Palm a stay of proceedings in the patent infringement suit, according to Palm, because the patents in question are under final review by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The patent office has all but said every one will receive a final rejection.

Not only that, the Court granted Palm's motion to strike the portion of NNTP’s complaint alleging misbehavior at the

As with its suit against RIM, NTP asserted Palm infringes on its wireless e-mail patents. NTP sought an injunction against Palm and monetary damages. In addition to RIM, NTP has already settled similar cases with Good Technology (now a part of Motorola), Nokia and Visto through license agreements.

"We are extremely pleased with the Court's decision to grant a stay. We hope and expect that the PTO's review of NTP's patents will confirm the decision of the examiners to reject them all and so avert the need for further litigation of this matter," said Palm senior VP & general counsel Mary Doyle in a statement.

By the time NTP launched its suit against Palm all seven patents in question had been re-examined, receiving preliminary rejections.

A year ago RIM settled with NTP to avoid the possibility of being shut out of the U.S. market, and to stop the drain the dispute was having on its bottom-line. Although the series of preliminary and one final rejection appeared to bolster RIM's cause at the time, the Judge often indicated that he viewed the patent review process and legal proceedings as two separate issues; because the patents were on the books during RIM's supposed infractions.

Even if all NTP's patents are given final rejections, the holding company won't have to pay RIM back a dime, as per the settlement.

Palm today revealed earnings $11.8 million (11 cents per share) for its most recent quarter. That's down from $29.9 million (28 cents per share) a year ago. Revenue increased by 5 percent to $410.5 million from $388.5 million. The financial community expected earnings of 12 cents a share with revenue of $403.6 million.

Treo shipments grew by 30 percent to 738,000 units for the quarter.

The recent takeover rumors that have surrounded Palm for the last several weeks appear to have subsided a bit, sending the company's stock up by 30 percent. Its value dropped by 9 percent today, however; rising slight to $17.78 after hours.

Palm estimates for its next financial quarter are below analyst expectations.