BlackBerry Ltd. on Tuesday filed a patent infringement lawsuit against social media platforms Facebook Inc. and its units WhatsApp and Instagram.

BlackBerry said Facebook and its companies developed "competing applications that improperly used BlackBerry's mobile messaging intellectual property."

"We have a strong claim that Facebook has infringed on our intellectual property, and after several years of dialog, we also have an obligation to our shareholders to pursue appropriate legal remedies," BlackBerry spokeswoman Sarah McKinney said in a statement.

Facebook was not immediately available for comment.