More bad news on the Blackberry front

Reuters reports :

U.S. District Judge James Spencer rejected RIM's request to delay the case and refused to enforce a disputed, $450 million settlement with patent holder NTP Inc.

"Valid patents would be rendered meaningless if an infringing party were allowed to circumvent the patents' enforcement by incessantly delaying and prolonging court proceedings, which have already resulted in a finding of infringement," Spencer said in his ruling from Richmond, Va.

Spencer said he would request briefs and set a hearing date to deal with NTP's request for damages against RIM and an injunction that would halt U.S. sales of the BlackBerry and shut its service.