This bout is, of course, too big for even Don King. What’s left to promote?

In one corner you’ve got RIM (the “good guy”), the popular maker of the BlackBerry device which has become a staple in many corporations across the globe. In the other corner you’ve got NTP (the “bad guy”), a company that produces no actual products but simply buys patents and sues companies that they believe infringe on their patents (apparently a darn good business, unfortunately).

A sidenote: try googling for NTP. NTP’s home page doesn’t even show up in the results. That’s because they’re competing with a network protocol for Google PageRank. “NTP” is most commonly known as the network time protocol. They may as well have named their company HTTP. You’d think that they could afford to come up with a little snazzier web site, but I digress.

What started out as a minor nuisance for RIM has turned into a serious problem. The case has escalated over the last couple years to the point where RIM and BlackBerry users everywhere are having to come to grips with the possibility of RIM having to shut down it’s BlackBerry platform to comply with the injunction. (Sounds like NTP is landing some body blows.)

Meanwhile, the federal government filed a briefing with the court asking to have their BlackBerrys excluded from any injunction. (Chalk up a round for RIM.)

RIM has repeatedly assured customers that they have created a software workaround that would avoid the patents in question and could be implemented in short order. Most agree that this would be a risky move that could result in some downtime for customers. (RIM gets a whiff of some smelling salts in their corner.)

Just days later after it seemed that RIM was staggering from a knockout blow, the US Patent Office nullified one of the 8 patents still at the core of NTP’s case. More re-examinations of the remaing patents at issue are still pending. (Now body blows from RIM!)

Shortly after this news broke, it leaked that RIM hasn’t even been in contact with NTP for the possibility of an out of court settlement since May, when their first tentative agreement fell through. (An uppercut from NTP.) The very next day RIM issued a response saying that they have been in contact with NTP through a mediator. (I’d give that round to RIM - barely.)

The headlines sure have been entertaining as well. Take this one: NTP Patent Keeps BlackBerry in a Jam.

If you’re weary from this ongoing drama, it might simply be a case of BlackBerry thumb (as I mention in BlackBerry Hacks, there is a cure.)

So if you’re worried about your trusty BlackBerry becoming nothing more than a paper weight, fear not. There are many folks out there in the same boat (even the lead attorney for NTP!!) and many others who believe a settlement (not a head-fake this time) is around the corner.

A settlement would seem to be in the best interest of both fighters, er, companies and neither of them gets knocked out.