A Seattle federal judge handed a temporary victory to Nintendo on Friday, granting its request to pause an intellectual property battle with Malikie Innovations Ltd., the Irish firm now holding a trove of former BlackBerry patents.

U.S. District Judge James L. Robart of Washington’s Western District approved the stay while the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and its Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) reexamine the six patents Malikie accuses Nintendo of infringing. The decision effectively freezes the lawsuit as the validity of those patents comes under the microscope.

“As Nintendo points out, 94 separate claims over six distinct patents are at issue,” Robart wrote, adding that the reviews “could narrow the asserted claims and simplify the litigation.”

BlackBerry’s Legacy Patents Spark Global Battle

Malikie, a Dublin-based offshoot of Key Patent Innovations Ltd., filed suit in September 2024, accusing Nintendo of infringing on technology once belonging to BlackBerry—covering motion tracking, parental supervision apps, and visual display systems used in Nintendo Switch consoles and Joy-Con controllers.

BlackBerry, once a global smartphone powerhouse, exited the handset market in 2016 and shifted toward cybersecurity. In 2023, it sold thousands of its patents to Malikie for $200 million, plus royalties from future licensing profits.

Nintendo fired back in January, denying all infringement claims and asserting the patents were invalid. The gaming titan argued in its October 9 motion that the case presented an “ideal opportunity to conserve judicial resources,” citing the USPTO’s July decision to reexamine one patent over “a substantial new question of patentability.”

Judge Finds No Prejudice in Pause

Judge Robart agreed, finding that Malikie and Key Patent—both nonpracticing entities—would not be unfairly disadvantaged by a delay.

“The potential for prejudice resulting from a stay is of less concern than it would be if the parties were direct competitors,” Robart wrote.

Nintendo’s other motion, which sought to dismiss one of the claims targeting its parental control technology, was denied without prejudice, leaving the door open for renewal once the stay lifts.

The court ordered both sides to report back in six months on the progress of the USPTO and PTAB reviews—and within two weeks of any final decision.

The Stakes and the Silence

Representatives for both Nintendo and Malikie remained tight-lipped Monday. The dispute, though paused, is part of a broader global war over ownership of the once-vaunted BlackBerry intellectual property—a cache that’s proving almost as valuable in court as it once was in consumers’ hands.

The patents at issue include U.S. Patent Nos. 8,545,247; 8,115,731; 9,542,571; 8,610,397; 7,529,305; and 9,313,065.

Malikie and Key Patent Innovations are represented by Breskin Johnson & Townsend PLLC and Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP, while Nintendo’s defense team includes Lowe Graham Jones PLLC and Cooley LLP.