BlackBerry Suing Makers Of Slip-On iPhone Keyboard Again, Claiming New Version Is Infringement

BlackBerry has a bone to pick with Typo, the makers of a slip-on iPhone keyboard that the mobile phone company already sued once with claims that the case infringes on its patents, and it’s not ready to let that bone go anytime soon. A new lawsuit against Typo is now on the books, this time aimed at the company’s second iteration of slip-on accessories

After BlackBerry sued the first time around, it gained an injunction stopping Typo Products from selling its slip-on keyboard that appealed to people like financial backer Ryan Seacrest for the very reason that it’s similar to the feel of a BlackBerry device.

A federal judge later said BlackBerry was due $860,000 after it claimed Typo continued to sell the original case.

But in the meantime, Typo came back with another version, the Typo 2, saying this time everything was on the up and up and it wasn’t infringing on BlacKberry’s intellectual property rights this time.

Not so, alleges Blackberry is the new lawsuit, reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

“Just as they did with the Typo Keyboard, Defendants have again copied numerous proprietary BlackBerry designs and patents in the Typo2 Keyboard,” states the complaint. “The Typo2 Keyboard still blatantly copies BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard trade dress designs that have been embodied in numerous BlackBerry smartphones from the 2007 BlackBerry 8800 to the current Q10 and Classic models. The Typo2 Keyboard also infringes numerous BlackBerry utility patents related to BlackBerry’s proprietary keyboard design, backlighting and typing automation technologies.”

The lawsuit is seeking damages as well as another injunction barring Typo from selling the Typo 2, and to “put an end to Defendants’ pattern and practice of unlawful conduct.”

BlackBerry Dials Up Second Lawsuit Against Ryan Seacrest’s Typo (Exclusive) [The Hollywood Reporter]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist