BlackBerry on Monday said that it will sell its patents principally related to mobile devices, messaging, and wireless networking to a special purpose corporation created to buy the company’s patent portfolio for $600 million.
The company stated that the deal with Catapult IP Innovations will have no effect on customers’ use of its products or services.
The patent sale is the final nail in the coffin for BlackBerry’s smartphone services, which originally gained traction in the early 2000s with phones that included built-in QWERTY keyboards and email and the Messenger functionality. The deal comes just weeks after Blackberry’s smartphone services were cut off.
Before the iPhone upended the whole business in 2007, the mobile company, along with Windows Mobile and Nokia, was one of the major players in mobile.
BlackBerry didn’t completely overhaul its OS until 2013, with the touch-focused10 OS, but it was far too late by then. When the BlackBerry Priv, the firm’s first Android phone, was released in 2015, the business abandoned BlackBerry OS development.
The company stated that patents linked to the company’s current core business operations, which now include cybersecurity services and automotive software, are not included in the deal.
When the transaction is completed, Blackberry will get $450 million in cash and a $150 million promissory note.
The deal might take up to 210 days to complete.
