Arbitration Panel Awards Refund to BlackBerry
Qualcomm has announced a binding interim arbitration award requiring Qualcomm to refund a sum of $814.9 million, plus interest and attorneys' fees, to BlackBerry Incorporated related to royalties for certain past sales of subscriber units. The parties had agreed to arbitrate a contract dispute relating to one specific issue: whether Qualcomm's voluntary per unit royalty cap program applied to BlackBerry's non-refundable prepayments of royalties for sales of a specified number of subscriber units from 2010 through the end of 2015.Â
While Qualcomm does not agree with the decision, it is binding and not appealable. The arbitration decision was limited to prepayment provisions unique to BlackBerry's license agreement with Qualcomm and has no impact on agreements with any other licensee.
