BlackBerry Sells Legacy Patents For $600M, Marking The End (Start?) Of An Era
Image ID 22159923 © Hermin Utomo | Dreamstime.com
Once the pioneer of the then-revolutionary external QWERTY keypad, BlackBerry is slowly beginning to let go of its smartphone business as the times evolve.
On Monday, the company released a statement announcing that it would be selling legacy patents related to mobile devices, messaging, and wireless networking for US$600 million.
These include the iconic BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), which has patents relating to the early days of muting a message thread and displaying an icon badge to indicate notifications on the home screen, per Ars Technica.
Its buyer is Catapult IP Innovations Inc., “a special purpose vehicle formed to acquire the BlackBerry patent assets.” The sale won’t affect the current users of any BlackBerry products or services.
Reuters reports that the firm is pivoting towards offering cybersecurity and software, used by automakers, instead of smartphones and instant messaging.
This news comes after the announcement that BlackBerry phones would become obsolete at the beginning of the year. An unrelated update from the then-smartphone giant in January noted that it has terminated support for classic devices.
[via Ars Technica and Reuters, image ID 22159923 © Hermin Utomo | Dreamstime.com]
