Blackberry Limited v Optiemus Infracom Limited

Facts

BlackBerry Limited, a software company, contracted with Optiemus Infracom Limited, an Indian public listed handset supplier, under an agreement dated 1 February 2017 by which BlackBerry supplied software and services for mobile handsets in return for royalties subject to escalating annual minimum fees, starting at $4m. Optiemus paid only $1m of the invoices rendered from July 2018, and disputed BlackBerry's performance. BlackBerry issued a claim in the Commercial Court on 20 August 2019 and, with permission, served in India under the Hague Service Convention in December 2019; Optiemus did not then acknowledge service or file a defence. Having learned in March 2020 that service had been effective, BlackBerry announced it would seek summary judgment but took no step for over four years, an automatic stay arising under CPR 15.11 in July 2020. BlackBerry applied in July 2024 to lift the stay and for summary judgment; Optiemus filed an acknowledgment of service on 18 August 2025, simultaneously applying to strike the claim out as an abuse of process under CPR 3.4(2)(b). Paul Stanley KC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, held that BlackBerry's deliberate four-year inactivity was an abuse, but declined to strike out, lifting the stay on conditions as to interest and costs. Optiemus appealed.