BlackBerry Files Lawsuit Against Ryan Seacrest’s Company
Just one day after Alicia Keys (former BlackBerry creative director) and BlackBerry parted ways, the Canadian company has filed a lawsuit against Typo Products LLC, based in Los Angeles, a company co-founded by Ryan Seacrest (host of the “American Idol” show). BlacBerry says that Typo Products infringes on its patents about smartphone related keyboards. A statement issued by the Canadian company’s general counsel and chief legal officer Steve Zipperstein says “This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard, and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design […] From the beginning, BlackBerry has always focused on offering an exceptional typing experience that combines a great design with ergonomic excellence. We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations”.
The product that BlackBerry claims infringes on its patents is the Typo keyboard, a physical keyboard accessory for the iPhone. Besides physical keys, the Typo keyboard also includes a protective case that encloses the iPhone. The $99 Typo keyboard is available for pre-order since December 2013 and is expected to be released this month. BlackBerry’s stance is quite interesting, as even though the Typo keyboard looks a lot like the keyboard built for BlackBerry devices, built in keyboards are not a thing anymore and even BlackBerry’s own smartphones tend to use touch screen interfaces. The Canadian company claims the Typo keyboard looks almost identical to the keyboard built for many of its devices.
Regardless of whether the Typo keyboard infringes on BlackBerry’s patents or not, it is very unexpected from BlackBerry to start the year with a lawsuit defending its physical keyboard patents against pop culture icon Ryan Seacrest. Especially since a $99 keyboard accessory is the least of the Canadian company’s concerns. It is also not the first time BlackBerry files a lawsuit against a company in order to protect its keyboard patents. Handspring, a PDA maker, was sued by BlackBerry more than twelve years ago claiming that the physical keyboard was very similar to that found in the Canadian company’s devices. In the end, Handspring licensed BlackBerry’s patents and the Canadian company dropped dropped the lawsuit.
As you can guess, Typo Products’ responded quickly and in the statement the company said that they intend to go to court and fight the case: “We are aware of the lawsuit that Blackberry filed today against Typo Products. Although we respect Blackberry and its intellectual property, we believe that Blackberry’s claims against Typo lack merit and we intend to defend the case vigorously. We are excited about our innovative keyboard design, which is the culmination of years of development and research. The Typo keyboard has garnered an overwhelmingly positive response from the public. We are also looking forward to our product launch at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week and remain on track to begin shipping pre-orders at the end of January”.
