NEW YORK (Reuters) – BlackBerry Ltd plans to negotiate a settlement of an eight-year-old lawsuit claiming it defrauded shareholders by overstating demand for its BlackBerry 10.
In a Wednesday filing with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, lawyers for BlackBerry and the shareholders asked the presiding judge to adjourn the trial so they could negotiate a preliminary settlement, which requires the judge’s approval.
Jury selection had been scheduled to begin on Thursday.
Lawyers for the shareholders did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
While the BlackBerry 10 won positive reviews from critics, the public preferred Android-based smartphones and Apple Inc’s iPhone, eventually leading to BlackBerry’s 2016 decision to stop making phones.
Shareholders accused the Waterloo, Ontario-based company, which now focuses on cybersecurity, of concealing BlackBerry 10’s true sales prospects in public statements during 2013, resulting in an inflated share price.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel and Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Bernard Orr)
