Tag Archives: Typo

BlackBerry Asks California Court To Block U.S. Sales Of Typo Keyboard

BlackBerry Asks California Court To Block U.S. Sales Of Typo Keyboard

After filing a suit against Typo Products at the beginning of this year, BlackBerry has moved to block all sales of the Typo keyboard in the United States. The company has asked a California court for assistance in stopping sales of this “obvious knock-off” of its smartphones. BlackBerry is asking the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to prevent Typo from “making, using, offering to sell, or selling within the United States, or importing into the United States, the Typo Keyboard.”

BlackBerry alleges Typo Products is infringing on two of its patents with its added keyboard: U.S. Design Patent 685,775 and U.S. Patent 7,629,964.

“Typo’s blatant copying of BlackBerry’s keyboard presents an imminent threat of irreparable harm to BlackBerry, and that threat is magnified in combination with the significant market power of the iPhone.”

BlackBerry definitely has a case against Typo, but whether or not they can stop the sale of them right away will have to be seen.

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BlackBerry Files Lawsuit Against Seacrest’s Typo Keyboard Startup For Infringement

BlackBerry Files Lawsuit Against Seacrest's Typo Keyboard Startup For Infringement

BlackBerry has today filed a lawsuit against startup Typo Keyboards, which is backed by Ryan Seacrest. The company alleges that Typo copied BlackBerry’s patented and “iconic” keyboard design.

“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,” Steve Zipperstein, BlackBerry’s General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer, said in a statement today.

Seacrest invested $1M in the accessory, which encloses an iPhone in a case with a keyboard attached to the bottom half. The keyboard covers the iPhone’s home button but offers an alternate home button on the bottom right corner.

BlackBerry says that the Typo Keyboard violates its intellectual property rights, and that it will protect those rights from “blatant copying and infringement.”

“BlackBerry’s iconic physical keyboard designs have been recognized by the press and the public as a significant market differentiator for its mobile handheld devices,” the statement concludes.

The design certainly bears a strong resemblance to BlackBerry’s signature rounded-corner keys and sloped corner design — right down to the placement of the back and return buttons. But one does have to wonder how many ways you can arrange keys on a keyboard.

Typo has issued a statement in response to BlackBerry’s lawsuit to Mashable.com. Typo claims the suit “lacks merit” and promises they will “defend the case vigorously.”

“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.”