A federal appeals court upheld most of a patent infringement verdict against the maker of BlackBerry e-mail devices, but ordered a lower court to reconsider part of the case and agreed to hear arguments that the long-running dispute is actually beyond U.S. jurisdiction.

The mixed ruling issued Tuesday seemed to confuse investors, who initially sent shares of BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. lower, but then bid the stock to a healthy gain for the day.