“Sell patents, split top job at RIM”

Activist shareholder Jaguar Financial of Toronto, headed by president Vic Alboini, left, is calling on Research in Motion (RIM) to split the two top jobs at the BlackBerry firm. Jim Balsillie (centre) Mike Lazaridis (right) now share the duties of CEO, an arrangement that Jaguar calls inefficient. One man should be CEO and the other an independent chairman, the banking firm said, It called for RIM to take stock of its diminished status in the hand-held business and consider selling patents, or even selling the company as a whole. Many say Jaguar, which owns, only five percent of RIM shares, has slight chance of getting much support for its ideas. Still, its a sign of shareholder discontent.