The US Patent and Trademark Office has given a final rejection to one of the key patents (#6,067,451) in NTP's infringement lawsuit against Research In Motion. This is the first final ruling given by the USPTO, all others have been preliminary. NTP and RIM are set to face off in a hearing scheduled for this Friday. It's possible the outcome will be an injunction barring the sales of BlackBerry devices and service in the US.
Patent #6,067,451 contained 2 of the 9 claims in dispute and the patents that contain the other 7 claims have already been preliminarily rejected. Final rulings for the two other parents are expected soon, but so far the judge in the lawsuit has been unwilling to wait for them.
NTP is expected to appeal the ruling, but it would be rare for the patent office to rule against itself after such a detailed reexamination process.