With a February 24th deadline looming over RIM, this article about how the two companies got to this point is timely. I caught it yesterday in the print edition of the Globe & Mail and it is now available online as well. At the heart of NTP is the late Tom Campana, a successful inventor but not-so successful businessman. He formed NTP with Donald Stout to protect his patents after a number of ventures went belly up.
This story may have begun as one where two men did not know how to back down but it has become much more since and one that should force a thorough review of how patents are awarded in the first place.