BlackBerry and Kik settle lawsuit over instant-messaging app: report

TORONTO -- BlackBerry Ltd. (TSX:BB) (Nasdaq: BBRY) has reached an out of court settlement of the patent-infringement lawsuit that it filed against Kik Interactive.

The smartphone maker filed suit nearly three years ago over Kik's instant-messaging app.

Kik was started by a former co-op student at Blackberry in the fall of 2010 -- and its app was an instant hit, soon surpassing Blackberry's BBM service.

Kik issued a release late Monday that said the two Waterloo, Ont., based companies had reached a settlement in September that ended all legal action between them.

The Globe and Mail reported that a Blackberry official confirmed the agreement, however, no terms were disclosed.

BlackBerry shares rose more than four per cent Monday on a report the beleaguered company is in sale talks with a number of firms, including Cisco, Google and SAP.