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Contact Us | Privacy Policy BlackBerry sells mobile patents to patent troll for $600M Malcolm Owen's AvatarMalcolm Owen | Jan 31, 2022 article thumbnail 20 Comments FacebookFacebook Twitter Twitter Reddit Reddit AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content. BlackBerry has sold a collection of legacy patents covering mobile technologies for $600M, a deal that will likely result in increased legal drama for smartphone producers like Apple in the future. Announced on Monday, BlackBerry has agreed to a patent sale agreement, which has the former smartphone giant handing over its non-core patent assets to Catapult IP Innovations for $600 million. The transaction will grant BlackBerry $450 million in cash and a promissory note for $150 million, as well as a license back for the patents. The collection of patents relate to mobile devices, messaging, and wireless networking IPs. BlackBerry specifically says that the sale will not affect customers using its products or services. While the assurance may be good for consumers, the deal may not be so fortuitous for tech firms in the mobile market. Catapult IP Innovations is described by BlackBerry as "a Delaware company" that is a "special purpose vehicle formed to acquire the BlackBerry patent assets." The company is funded by a $450 million senior secure loan, which includes $400 million of "conditional commitments from a lending syndicate" led by Third Eye Capital. BlackBerry's sale is to what could be considered a "Non-practicing entity," a company that doesn't earn revenue from product or services sales, but is more likely to do so through asset protection. Many refer to these sorts of entities as "patent trolls." Since there's an expected return on investment, it is likely that the patents will be used to encourage royalty payments from device producers, potentially through lawsuits. Blackberry's patents have been used to sue other companies in the past, such as legal action in March 2018 against Facebook over Facebook messenger. Apple has also been a target of a patent lawsuit based on the work of Research in Motion, BlackBerry's former name. In 2019, Non-practicing entity Fundamental Innovation Systems accused Apple of infringing on multiple payments concerning USB charging and communication technologies. The patent sale is conditional upon the satisfaction of regulatory conditions, including the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act and the Investment Canada Act, which could take up to 210 days to complete. --------------------------------------------------------------------- 20 Comments --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Comments (20) Forum User Bosa Bosa said about 1 day ago Black Berry is so sad, like a washed up street hooker needing cash , any cash --------------------------------------------------------------------- Forum User rob53 rob53 said about 1 day ago I hope the regulatory agencies stop this sale. We don't need any more worthless lawsuits containing old technology. Blackberry hasn't done anything new in years so these patents should be dropped. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Forum User Hank2.0 Hank2.0 said about 1 day ago I wish all the major manufacturers would chip in to create an independent organization with a fund pool to buy up all these orphan patents to keep them from patent trolls. Ideally, these patents should be placed in the public domain. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Forum User beowulfschmidt beowulfschmidt said about 1 day ago It's not "troll" behavior if the patents are legitimate and are legitimately being infringed. And the proper place to determine legitimacy is in the courts. Not in a clickbait headline. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Forum User Bosa Bosa said about 1 day ago rob53 said: I hope the regulatory agencies stop this sale. We don't need any more worthless lawsuits containing old technology. Blackberry hasn't done anything new in years so these patents should be dropped. If there is anything worse than patent trolls, it's Washington DC, especially the current group talk about frivolous --------------------------------------------------------------------- Read More on the forums... 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