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BlackBerry wins 815 million dollars

April 12, 2017.

BlackBerry KEYone.

BlackBerry KEYone. © BlackBerry.

BlackBerry was awarded US$815 million (CA$1.08 billion) in the arbitration of a dispute with chipmaker Qualcomm, i.e. the amount Qualcomm supposedly overcollected on its patent royalties. As for all arbitration decisions, the award is unappealable. It’s a bad day for Qualcomm, who is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for abusing its position as a dominant player and for anti-competitive practices. Last December, for the same reason, Qualcomm was forced to pay out US$853 million (CA$1.13 billion) by the South Korean fair trade commission. Further, last January, Apple filed a complaint against Qualcomm, claiming the company owed it one billion dollars for the same practice of overcollection. In response, Qualcomm countersued Apple, claiming, among other things, that it had restricted its chips on the iPhone 7, distorted facts and made false statements. Last year, Qualcomm’s revenues hit US$23.55 billion (CA$31.23 billion). After a drought of good news, BlackBerry’s stock surged by 18% on Wednesday.

Techcrunch, “BlackBerry’s stock had a great day after the company won a big dispute with Qualcomm.”