On the surface, NTP vs. BlackBerry seems to be morphing into a fight of Strict Judge vs. Philosophy. The judge previously said he won't wait for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to finalize its re-evaluations of the NTP wireless email patents, one of which did become final yesterday, and this week he said U.S. government customers won't get any special treatment. Meanwhile, the unanswered philosophical question is, "What's your liability level if the broken rule was later deemed invalid?" A patent's a patent and RIM did infringe it, but isn't that moot with the rejections? Tomorrow could be the most intruiging part yet--it's the start of the judge's hearing to rule on an injunction. Yes, I still believe the companies will settle.

For more on the decision:
- check out this AP article
- read this News.com article