Research In Motion Limited
(
RIMM
), the maker of Blackberry, has extended the terms of its patent
license agreement with wireless technology developer
InterDigital Inc.
(
IDCC
). The deal is believed to boost Research In Motion's patent
portfolio ahead of the much awaited launch of its BB10-based
smartphone.
Per the deal, the struggling handset manufacturer has extended
its worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty bearing patent license deal
for a multi-year period with InterDigital's patent holding
subsidiary. Additionally, they have modified the contract to some
extent by adding patent license for the LTE and LTE-Advanced
products. However, the terms and financial details of the deal
are yet to be disclosed.
Recently, Research In Motion ended a long-standing patent related
dispute with
Nokia Corporation
(
NOK
), whereby the former will make an upfront payment and will also
continue to make payments to the Finish handset manufacturer for
the use of its patents. It seems that Waterloo, Ontario-based
Research In Motion doesn't want to remain in any patent related
dispute before the launch of BB10-based device.
The beleaguered handset manufacturer has been struggling for
quite some time owing to an increasing competition, primarily
from
Apple Inc.'s
(
AAPL
) iPhone and from other smartphone manufacturers, which runs on
Google Inc.'s
(
GOOG
) Android platform. The recent launch of
Microsoft Corporation's
(
MSFT
) Windows 8 platform has only aggravated the problem.
The Canadian company is betting on its new Blackberry 10 OS-based
devices, which are slated to release in the first half of 2013.
The new smartphone with advanced feature could be a potential
game changer, provided it can attract attention of more
consumers.
Research In Motion doesn't have a lot of 4G enabled devices other
than its Playbook tablet. With the increasing adaptation of 4G
around the world, we believe this patent deal will aid the
company to enrich its 4G enabled device count.
We maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation on Research In
Motion. Currently, it holds a short-term Zacks # 3 Rank
(Hold).
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