BlackBerry was handed a win in its royalties spat with Qualcomm on Wednesday, when an arbitration panel decided the latter had to refund some $815 million to the Canadian-based company.
The $814.9 million award concluded a dispute between the two companies relating to whether Qualcomm’s voluntary per unit royalty cap program applied to BlackBerry’s non-refundable prepayments of royalties for sales of a specified number of subscriber units from 2010 through the end of 2015. The decision came nearly a year after the companies entered into an arbitration agreement on April 20, 2016.
Blackberry shares were up more than 15 percent on the news Wednesday morning.
Qualcomm said in a brief statement while it “does not agree with the decision, it is binding and not appealable.” The company noted the decision was limited to provisions unique to its license agreement with BlackBerry and will not impact the company’s agreements with other licensees.
BlackBerry CEO John Chen said the companies have a “longstanding relationship” and will continue to be “valued technology partners.”
“We are pleased the arbitration panel ruled in our favor and look forward to collaborating with Qualcomm in security for ASICs and solutions for the automotive industry,” Chen commented.
The decision comes as Qualcomm squares off with another tech giant, Apple, in a different patent licensing battle. Apple filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Qualcomm in January, alleging the latter has overcharged the smartphone maker for royalties. Qualcomm shot back this week with a filing that claimed Apple achieved its success on the backs of companies like Qualcomm “without contributing much, if anything, to the innovations at the heart of cellular communications.”
BlackBerry, too, has been involved in its fair share of high-profile litigation lately. The company in February took Nokia to task for allegedly infringing on 11 of its patents. More on that here.
Filed Under: Devices
