IAM and Globe hit it - Now the what about the elephant..BlackBerry CEO: Majority of cash for patent portfolio expected in upfront payment Richard Lloyd 01 April 2021
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peaking to IAM, a source close to the bid process insisted that any deal would involve
the vast majority of BlackBerry’s most valuable assets from its
38,000-strong patent portfolio.
No details were mentioned in terms of selling price. However, previous reporting by
The Globe and Mail has pegged an amount of $450 million. On the analyst call, Chen revealed that the company expects the majority of the cash from any deal in an upfront payment with further pay-outs in a backend spread over multiple years.
One of the questions that has hung over the BlackBerry portfolio is the extent of the encumbrances that stem from the company’s deal with Teletry. In 2017, the Marconi-affiliated licensing platform was
handed rights to sub-license part of the tech giant’s patent haul to a majority of smartphone manufacturers.
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Since then, BlackBerry has
announced a settlement with Facebook over the social media giant’s alleged infringement of messaging grants.
“The terms of a licence between the pair were not disclosed” but as with the assets licensed by Teletry a deal would no doubt be closely reviewed by any bidder.
DigitalTransformationTrends Blackberry Rises on News of Facebook Settlement Matt Milano January 20, 2021 Blackberry filed a lawsuit in 2018, claiming that Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram infringed on some of its patents.
On Friday, Blackberry announced it had reached a settlement agreement with Facebook.