Blog Exposure - International Court of Arbitration Rules in Favor of Nokia in Contract Dispute Case Against Blackberry

Stock Monitor: Nokia Post Earnings Reporting

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / December 05, 2017 / Active-Investors issued a free report on BlackBerry Ltd (NYSE: BB), which is readily accessible upon registration at www.active-investors.com/registration-sg/?symbol=BB as the Company's latest news hit the wire. The International Chamber of Commerce's International Court of Arbitration has made a ruling in favor of Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK) in a dispute with BlackBerry overpayments owed under patent license contract. As per the Court of Arbitration's ruling on November 29, 2017, BlackBerry will pay $137 million to Nokia to resolve the payments dispute. Sign up now for our free research reports at:

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Active-Investors.com is focused on giving you timely information and the inside line on companies that matter to you. This morning, BlackBerry most recent news is on our radar and we have decided to include it on our blog post. Today's free coverage BB and NOK are available at:

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The dispute

The dispute is with regards to terms of the patent license agreement signed between the two companies in 2012. Nokia had filed a Request for Arbitration with the International Court of Arbitration in April 2017 alleging that BlackBerry owed Nokia certain payments as per the terms of the agreement. The arbitration panel made a ruling on November 29, 2017, where it ruled in favor of Nokia and ordered BlackBerry to pay $137 million to resolve the dispute.

The dispute did not have any allegations of IP infringement.

Response from BlackBerry on the matter

The official statement to the press from BlackBerry read:

"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 US and Germany."

BlackBerry plans to record the amount as a one-time GAAP charge. In February 2017, BlackBerry had filed a case against Nokia with the US Federal Court in Wilmington, Delaware, alleging patent infringement by Nokia of nearly 11 patents and had demanded royalty payments for unauthorized use of these patented technologies in Nokia products that were being sold to telecom operators.

Response from Nokia on the matter

The press release from Nokia said that the Company is pleased with the ruling of the Court of Arbitration and confirms Nokia's stand that BlackBerry had failed to make payments to the Company as per terms of the patent license agreement signed between the two Companies in 2012. The Company also said:

"A significant portion of the amount awarded has already been recognized by Nokia in its financials for previous periods. Nokia will follow its existing practices for disclosing patent licensing related results in its quarterly financial reports."

On the matter of BlackBerry's patent infringement lawsuit against the Company, Nokia believes that BlackBerry's claims do not hold any merit.

Both phone manufacturing Companies who were at their peak a few years back have been struggling to survive and fighting to bring their brands back into the consumer forefront. Both Companies have tied up with third party manufacturers who are using their brand names to revive their old brands. Nokia has signed an agreement with HMD Global in May 2016 for use of Nokia name and certain intellectual property to produce smartphones and tablets. While BlackBerry signed an agreement with China's TCL in December 2016 for use of its name and software. John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry, has adopted the strategy of monetizing BlackBerry's rich intellectual property to improve the Company's financials. In May 2017, BlackBerry reached an out of court settlement agreement with Qualcomm after it agreed to pay $940 million to settle a licensing dispute for the refund of overpayment of royalty fees between 2010 and 2015 by BlackBerry. BlackBerry planned to use this excess cash received for making strategic acquisitions and for a share repurchase program.

About BlackBerry Ltd

Waterloo, Ontario Canada based BlackBerry is a cybersecurity software and services Company dedicated to securing the Enterprise of Things worldwide. The Company was founded in 1984 and operates in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Middle-East, Latin America, and Africa.

About Nokia Corp.

Nokia was founded in 1865 and is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. It reigned as a mobile manufacturing Company for a long time before it sold off its Devices & Services business to Microsoft after facing severe competition from smartphone manufacturers who ate into a significant port of Nokia's market and business. After selling off part of it business to Microsoft, Nokia slowly regained its financial footing and had three strong businesses – Nokia Networks, HERE maps, and Nokia Technologies – focused on connecting the things and people of the Programmable World. In 2015, Nokia divested the HERE maps business to a car consortium Company to complete the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, the parent Company of Bell Labs. The merged Company remerged as Nokia Bell Labs. Nokia, together with its subsidiaries, provides network infrastructure and related services worldwide.

Stock Performance Snapshot

December 04, 2017 - At Monday's closing bell, BlackBerry's stock declined 3.24%, ending the trading session at $10.44.

Volume traded for the day: 3.35 million shares.

Stock performance in the last three-month period – up 15.87%; past twelve-month period – up 37.55%; and year-to-date - up 51.52%

After yesterday's close, BlackBerry's market cap was at $5.55 billion.

Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio was at 10.90.

The stock is part of the Technology sector, categorized under the Communication Equipment industry.

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