[jibi]

Thomas Campana developed and patented a method of sending e-mail to wireless pagers for AT&T - this was in the late 1980's. AT&T wanted to add wireless e-mail to a laptop they had acquired. The technology was never used at that time, but the patents remained with Campana. I apologize about my comment earlier - no product was ever actually implemented and sold as a result of his development (not to say it couldn't though - just the technology was a bit premature). This is where NTP was established by Campana and his patent attorney. Campana died last summer, and thus, the attorney now runs the holding company.

So its not a matter of him never actually developing the technology and holding a broad patent over something that was nothing more than a visualization of technological possibilities - however, the patent is broad enough to extend to all wireless devices and wireless e-mail delivery technology that falls under the same sort of general idea (hence why some question the 'workaround' from RIM).