BlackBerry and Cisco are cross-licensing patents, and as part of the deal BlackBerry will receive a license fee from Cisco. The companies disclosed the agreement early Tuesday.
How much the fee is was not disclosed.
BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY) and Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) have worked together in the past.
“Our agreement with Cisco underscores the value companies place on BlackBerry’s broad and foundational patent portfolio,” said Mark Kokes, vice president for Intellectual Property and Licensing at BlackBerry. “With the agreement in place, BlackBerry and Cisco can focus on innovation and continued technical cooperation, allowing our companies more freedom to create leading products and services for customers without the potential for patent disputes.”
BlackBerry is becoming more of a software company with much less emphasis on hardware such as smartphones, but the company did disclose plans to launch four new devices in March.
“Cross-licensing is an effective way for technology companies to assure freedom of operation and help remove concerns about patent litigation,” said Dan Lang, vice president of Intellectual Property at Cisco. “This agreement recognizes Cisco’s patent portfolio, one that is regularly rated among the strongest in the telecommunications and networking industry. We look forward to continuing to innovate to meet the needs of our respective customers.”
BlackBerry has a R&D operation in the Triangle.
Cisco maintains one of its largest corporate campuses in RTP.
Earnings miss
BlackBerry also reported its latest earnings Tuesday morning, saying it lost 5 cents a share on revenue of $658 million.
The loss was one cent more than expected by analysts.
Revenue also fell short of expectations of $684.5 million.
