BlackBerry sells mobile-related patents and IPs for 69 billion yen

by Leon Lee

BlackBerry, the once predominant mobile device maker, has sold its non-core patented assets for $ 600 million. The company ended support for its own OS in January 2022, and it seems that it has entered a complete 'store'.

BlackBerry Agrees to Sell Legacy Patents for $ 600M
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/BlackBerry-agrees-to-sell-legacy-patents-for-600m-301471301.html

BlackBerry to sell patents related to mobile devices, messaging for $ 600 million | REUTERS
https://jp.reuters.com/article/blackberry-patents-catapult-idUKKBN2K50Z3

BlackBerry sells mobile and messaging patents for $ 600 million | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/01/blackberry-sells-mobile-and-messaging-patents-for-600-million/

On January 31, 2022, BlackBerry sold patents and IPs related to mobile devices, messaging and wireless networks that do not affect current products and services to an IP management company called Catapult IP Innovations. Catapult IP Innovations is a special purpose vehicle established to purchase BlackBerry's patented assets, receiving conditional loans from Canadian investment giant Third Eye Capital and others to pay for Blackberry, and Blackberry at the time of closing the transaction. We will pay $ 450 million in cash and $ 150 million in bills.

Blackberry wasa pioneer of smartphones known to have been used by former President Obama himself, but with the advent of iPhone and Android, the market capitalization dropped significantly, and in 2012, 'the market capitalization is 5 minutes from the heyday. 1, one-third of the employees to the dismissal ' was reported . After that, in 2016, it withdrew from in-house development of smartphones, and in 2017, the market share dropped to 0.0%, and support for its own OS ended in January 2022. We were in the process of completely withdrawing from the mobile market.

BlackBerry no longer supports its own OS-GIGAZINE

As mentioned above, Catapult IP Innovations is a company established for Blackberry's patent assets, and currently it is in debt to acquire patent assets and does not provide products or services. The company needs to leverage BlackBerry's patented assets to make a profit, so it is reported that it will soon begin proceeding with proceedings against companies that infringe BlackBerry's patents.

Today's Blackberry's main business is security systems for companies and security software for automobile manufacturers.