BlackBerry and Nokia’s legal feud is not quite as entertaining as Qualcomm and Apple’s, but just in case you need a bit more corporate drama in your life, here’s the latest in the ongoing battle between two once-dominant mobile phone manufacturers.
The International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration has ruled in Nokia’s favour in a contract dispute case that BlackBerry submitted for arbitration in April 2016.
The dispute has to do with whether certain payments allegedly due under a patent license contract between the companies were in fact owed to Nokia under the terms of the agreement.
BlackBerry released a press statement that said it accepted the decision, and would pay the $137 million.
But while BlackBerry has conceded to pay out in this contract dispute, the Waterloo-based company makes it clear it won’t stop fighting Nokia on other fronts.
“BlackBerry is disappointed that the Court of Arbitration did not agree with our arguments in the case but we accept their decision,” stated the company.
“This ruling does not change BlackBerry’s assertion that Nokia is infringing on our intellectual property and we are continuing to vigorously pursue legal remedies in both the US and Germany.”
BlackBerry filed its US patent infringement suit in February 2017, demanding royalties related to the Finnish company’s mobile network products, including its Flexi Multiradio base stations, radio network controllers and Liquid Radio software, which it said were covered by as many as 11 of its own patents.
Nokia, a former cellphone manufacturing giant, now focuses mostly on network technology — though handsets under the Nokia brand-name are now being produced by HMD Global, in a similar fashion to TCL’s production of BlackBerry-brand handsets.
Source: BlackBerry
