BlackBerry awarded $815 million in arbitration case against Qualcomm
- BlackBerry argued that it was overpaying Qualcomm in royalty payments.
- A final award, including interest and attorney fees, will be issued after a hearing on May 30.
BlackBerry said Wednesday it has been awarded a preliminary $814.9 million in royalty overpayments made to Qualcomm.
The Canadian company's U.S.-traded shares jumped more than 18 percent on the news. Qualcomm share prices were down more than 2 percent.
Ahead of the announcement, trading in BlackBerry was briefly halted.
A final award, including interest and attorney fees, will be issued after a hearing on May 30, the company said.
BlackBerry argued that it was overpaying Qualcomm in royalty payments. Last April, BlackBerry and Qualcomm entered discussions to settle the dispute and analyze an existing "agreement to cap certain royalties applied to payments made by BlackBerry under a license agreement between the two parties."
Despite the dispute, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said Wednesday that the companies "continue to be valued technology partners." He said BlackBerry will continue to collaborate with Qualcomm, specifically for security in the auto industry and in application-specific integrated circuits.
Apple filed a lawsuit against Qualcomm in January, when it argued that Qualcomm is "charging royalties for technologies they have nothing to do with." Apple also argued that Qualcomm is "withholding nearly $1 billion in payments from Apple as retaliation for responding truthfully to law enforcement agencies investigating them."