The Canadian-based maker of the popular smartphone range BlackBerry has lost a contract dispute with Nokia. As of late both companies have been losing market share to Android and iOS devices and this latest dispute could end up being the proverbial straw for RIM as it looks to streamline and reduce costs ahead of its BlackBerry 10 launch early next year.

A Swedish arbitrator has decided that RIM is in breach of contract regarding a cross-licensing deal the two have. The deal, originally signed in 2003 and revised in 2008, cross-licensed standards-essential cellular patents and RIM sought to arbitrate the contract in March 2011 saying that it should extend to WLAN patents.

The Stockholm Chamber of Commerce has decided that this is not the case and RIM will need to pay royalties to Nokia or it could face a sales ban. Nokia has been looking to turn its patent portfolio into royalty revenue as it struggles to modernize and produce devices that customers want to buy.