BlackBerry is no longer under an exclusivity agreement to sell its non-core patents to Catapult IP Innovations.
The company attributed the retraction to Catapult’s laggard pace in raising the $600 million needed to complete the deal.
The two had previously expected to close the deal by the end of the first quarter of its fiscal 2023. In a press release, BlackBerry said that while it’s still looking forward to the completion of the original transaction, it’s now “exploring alternative options in parallel.”
It’s unclear if this means that the patents are now up for bid. BlackBerry did not release the name of the interested parties.
BlackBerry announced in February that it will be selling all of its non-core patents related to its mobile devices, messaging, and wireless networking businesses. None of the patents up for sale will impact the function of BlackBerry products.
OnwardMobility, the company that had acquired the BlackBerry name after TCL and hoped to develop a 5G-enabled BlackBerry smartphone, shut down shortly after the patent sale announcement.
Not a lot is known about Catapult IP Ventures, the Delaware-registered acquirer, aside from it being specifically formed to acquire BlackBerry patent assets.
IT World Canada reached out to BlackBerry outside of working hours and did not receive an immediate reply. The article will be updated if the company responds.
