BlackBerry vs. Nokia: Contract dispute related to patent licenses

On December 1, BlackBerry agreed to pay Nokia $137 million to settle a contract dispute related to patent licenses. The settlement stems from a request for arbitration that Nokia filed in April 2016 with the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC's) International Court of Arbitration, an institution for the resolution of international commercial disputes.

Nokia allegedly accused BlackBerry of failing to make payments on patent license contracts and brought the matter to the ICC's arbitration panel. The dispute did not involve any allegations of IP infringement. While BlackBerry bowed to the ICC's ruling, the company affirmed that it is still bringing two patent infringement cases against Nokia in US and German courts. Nonetheless, Nokia maintains that BlackBerry's claims of patent infringement are without merit.

With regard to the case, BlackBerry said, "BlackBerry is disappointed that the Court of Arbitration did not agree with our arguments in the case but we accept their decision. This ruling does not change BlackBerry's assertion that Nokia is infringing on our intellectual property and we are continuing to vigorously pursue legal remedies in both the U.S. and Germany."