Blackberry's ghost still haunts Apple in lawsuits that have nothing to do with them

Years after Blackberry phones died and the firms technology patents were sold off, Apple is in court trying to block details of its old deals from reaching iPhone rival Xiaomi.

Blackberry phones stopped working back in 2022, but the company sold off its patents and already been doing licensing deals. Now according to Courthouse News, patent law firms want details of those licenses.

Apple has gone to court to stop it.

Key Patent Innovations and Malikie Innovations are currently in dispute with Xiaomi over alleged patent infringement. As is the case with all patent companies with nothing to make or sell, also called patent trolls, they make their money by either suing or settling, and these two are trying both.

They are pursuing the case in both Germany and India, but are also attempting to sell licenses to Xiaomi. Lawyers for the Chinese smartphone company want to know what others have paid before, and so Apple's old deals have been dragged into the case.

Xiaomi has already gained some access to Apple's contracts with Blackberry, via a ruling from a Texas district court. It's not clear what information was or wasn't shown to them, but Apple is determined to stop it going any further.

Apple's argument is that the Texas court gave access "without the reasonable restrictions Apple sought." Specifically, the magistrate court rejected Apple's demand for the strict "outside counsel only" protections, and allowed limited access to two reportedly vetted Xiaomi in-house attorneys.

Now Apple has said in oral arguments that it would be "gravely harmed if its highly confidential licensing agreements" were to be "handed over to in-house personnel of its direct competitor." Apple attorney Joseph R. Palmore said that there would be no way to know how the information was subsequently used within China, nor any ability to enforce limits.

Plus according to Palmore, Xiaomi's lawyers who would get this information are the same ones who handle pricing negotiations. "It stretches credulity to think that these in-house attorneys are going to be able to separate or compartmentalize... this information," he said.

In response, attorney Steffan N Johnson representing Malikie Innovations ridiculed Apple's fears.

"You'd think the court below had ordered Apple to give away the keys to its technological kingdom," he said. "This is not the formula for Coke or some sensitive algorithm on an AI platform."

"We're talking about standard-essential patents and licenses on them," continued Johnson, "which the law routinely requires disclosing under suitable protective orders."

Standard-essential patents (SEP) are ones which are so fundamental to a given technology, such as 5G, that products cannot be made without them. Firms like Apple or Xiaomi have to license them, but the owners must make them available with Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory (FRAND) prices.

It's not clear what specific ex-Blackberry patents are at the center of this case, but as SEP ones, they must be being used by other companies. Apple surely can't be alone in having licensed them.

So this is likely to be a fishing expedition by Xiaomi. And as such, while it isn't the "formula for Coke" as the attorney said, the absolute importance isn't clear.

Oral arguments in the case of Apple Inc vs Key Patent Innovators et al, took around 42 minutes on March 19, 2026. The court is now considering the case, but as yet there is no published schedule for when it will rule.