BlackBerry has sold 90 key smartphone patents to Huawei

On January 14, BlackBerry CFO Steve Rai confirmed at a virtual investor conference hosted by JP Morgan that the company has sold 90 key smartphone technology patents to Huawei. Currently, BlackBerry is taking measures to deal with assets related to the bankrupt business.

According to the US Patent and Trademark Office, the ownership of these patents was transferred to Huawei on December 23 last year. When talking about this transaction, Rai pointed out that this is only "a small part of patents that have nothing to do with our core business. Therefore, the scale of the transaction is small and it is not part of our regular transactions. Of course, this transaction is permitted by relevant rules."

Since the launch of its BlackBerry Technology Solutions (BTS) business unit in 2014, BlackBerry has always tried its best to authorize or sell its 38,000 patents, including those from QNX, Certicom, and Paratek. However, this transaction has caused many people to question Canada's innovation strategy.

After experiencing major setbacks, BlackBerry withdrew from the mobile phone business in 2016 and shifted its focus to the fields of enterprise, Internet of Things, and security software. The company's mobile phone brand was initially licensed to TCL Communications, which was subsequently acquired by the start-up OnwardMobility.