NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - Shares in BlackBerry maker Research in Motion rallied Friday after reports said the company had reached a settlement in a patent dispute for less than analysts had feared.

Shares in RIM (Research) surged over six percent on Nasdaq.

NTP, which has been in a long patent dispute with RIM over BlackBerry technology, would settle for 5.7 percent of RIM's future U.S. BlackBerry revenue, according to the Wall Street Journal.

That would represent a settlement of about $670 million, according to a television report cited by Briefing.com.

Briefing said some analyst expected the company to pay over $1 billion.

The $670 million figure is more than a $450 million settlement reached last March, which a judge recently nullified.