BlackBerry 10 US lawsuit revived

A US judge rejected a request by BlackBerry to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the company maker of misleading shareholders about the sales prospects for BlackBerry 10 devices, Reuters reported.

Although the lawsuit was dismissed in 2015, Chief Judge Colleen McMahon of the US District Court for the southern district of New York said new information had surfaced during a recent criminal prosecution of James Dunham, a former COO at retailer Wireless Zone, which allowed the lawsuit to be revived.

Another factor in her decision was a US Supreme Court amendment to the legal standard for assessing whether opinions are misleading.

The BlackBerry 10 received positive feedback from critics, but never became popular commercially. BlackBerry eventually stopped making its own phones in 2016.

Shareholders accused BlackBerry of inflating its stock price and hiding BlackBerry 10’s true sales prospects in public statements made in 2013.

Devices returnedThe case involving Dunham revealed how a 2013 report by investment bank Detwiler Fenton showing a high rate of returns of BlackBerry 10 devices was based on confidential industry data illegally sold by Dunham from around 400 Wireless Zone stores.

Judge McMahon said the plaintiffs had made a “plausible showing” BlackBerry’s response to the report, including that customers were “satisfied” and return rates were “at or below our forecasts and right in line with the industry,” contradicted data it allegedly had from Wireless Zone.