BlackBerry Ltd. said it was awarded $814.9 million in arbitration following a dispute with Qualcomm Inc. over royalty payments.
The Waterloo, Ontario-based company, which made smartphones before shifting its focus to software, agreed last year to an arbitration hearing over the dispute, which centered on whether Qualcomm was required to cap certain royalty fees under a licensing pact between the two companies, according to a statement Wednesday.
Qualcomm, which owns patents that cover the fundamentals of modern mobile technology, gets a cut of the selling price of handsets from phone makers, whether they use its chips or not. The San Diego-based semiconductor maker gets the majority of its profit from those payments.
"BlackBerry and Qualcomm have a longstanding relationship and continue to be valued technology partners," BlackBerry Chief Executive Officer John Chen said in the statement. "We are pleased the arbitration panel ruled in our favor and look forward to collaborating with Qualcomm in security for ASICs and solutions for the automotive industry."
The final amount of the award, including interest and attorney fees, will be announced after a hearing on May 30, BlackBerry said.
By Jillian Ward
