BlackBerry Sells Mobile and Messaging Patents to Newly-Formed ‘Catapult IP Innovations’ ⇥ arstechnica.com

Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica:

If the name “Catapult IP Innovations” didn’t give it away, weaponizing BlackBerry patents is the most obvious outcome of this deal. According to the press release, Catapult’s funding for the $600 million deal is just a $450 million loan, which will immediately be given to BlackBerry in cash. The remaining $150 million is a promissory note with the first payment due in three years. That means Catapult is now a new company with a huge amount of debt, no products, and no cash flow. Assuming the plan isn’t to instantly go bankrupt, Catapult needs to start monetizing BlackBerry’s patents somehow, which presumably means suing everyone it believes is in violation of its newly acquired assets.

Is being a patent troll really an “IP innovation”?