BlackBerry to pay Nokia millions after court rules in favor of the latter

International Chamber of Commerce's International Court of Arbitration has ordered BlackBerry to pay $137 million to Nokia in relation to a settlement of a contract dispute between two of the earliest smartphone manufacturers. The dispute centered around certain payments that Nokia claims that Blackberry owed it under the terms of a patent license contract.

The Arbitration panel has ruled in favor of Nokia, saying that it was owed $137 million by Blackberry. It is to be noted that the dispute between both firms was not related to any claims of patent infringement, although BlackBerry is still accusing Nokia of using some of its intellectual property without permission. BlackBerry has filed a couple of lawsuits against Nokia in the U.S. and in Germany.

"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." This means that Blackberry will go along with the announced ruling.

Back in the day before the arrival of iOS and Android, Nokia and Blackberry used to rule the mobile space. Now both have licensed their names to manufacturers who are having success reviving the old brands. In May 2016, HMD Global licensed from Nokia the use of the Nokia name and certain intellectual property for the production of smartphones and tablets. In December 2016, BlackBerry licensed its name and software to China's TCL.