BlackBerry signs patent licensing deal with Teletry

(Reuters) - Canada's BlackBerry Ltd said on Wednesday it agreed to allow Teletry, a unit of patent licensing firm Marconi Group, to sub-license a broad range of its patents to global smartphone manufacturers.

Blackberry said it would retain ownership of the patents and operate its own licensing program outside of Teletry's sub-licensing rights.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

BlackBerry is trying to get companies to pay licensing fees for the use of its 40,000 technology patents that span operating systems, networking infrastructure, automotive subsystems, cybersecurity and wireless communications.

Chief Executive John Chen has made monetizing BlackBerry's patent portfolio a key pillar of his plan to curb a six-year revenue decline and turn the company around.

The news of the agreement comes about a month after two senior executives at BlackBerry's patent licensing unit quit.

(Reporting by Karan Nagarkatti in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)