BlackBerry Wins In Court Again; Canadian Smartphone Maker Accuses Ryan Seacrest’s Company Of Allegedly Infringing Keyboard Patent

BlackBerry wins in court again Thursday after a decision by U.S. District Judge William Orrick denied the motion of a company co-founded by TV host and Hollywood producer Ryan Seacrest, Typo, arguing that it does not infringine upon BlackBerry’s patents, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Typo Products LLC is offering a keyboard designed to clip on phones made by BlackBerry rival Apple. The Ontario-based handset maker filed a complaint in March with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California that Typo likely infringed on its patents.

The keyboard-maker initially sought relief from the injunction since it has introduced a new keyboard, but the recent decision last week by Orrick notes that “a new keyboard isn’t grounds for lifting the preliminary injunction.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, BlackBerry also won the right to prove that Typo violated the preliminary injunction. The U.S. District Court judge wrote the statement below supporting the Canadian company’s request:

"BlackBerry has raised significant questions suggesting that Typo's sales to foreign retailers after the injunction went into effect…violated the preliminary injunction."

Typo Products sells a $99 keyboard case, which is seemingly an exact copy of BlackBerry’s keyboard, Bidness Etc notes. The keyboard manufacturer has since announced that it will take every possible step to innovate its products.

BlackBerry has yet to release a statement on the matter. One of the company’s key strategy in the coming months is to further appeal to its base of keyboard-loving users. Company CEO John Chen has announced that the upcoming and highly anticipated BlackBerry Classic, also dubbed BlackBerry Q20, will feature a QWERTY-like keyboard.

As the market for BlackBerry handsets have decreased due to the advent of smartphones in the iPhone-style, the former mobile industry leader shifted its focus from appealing to a broader base of users to a more focused niche.

Tags
world news
Join the Discussion

Latest Photo Gallery

Real Time Analytics