BlackBerry Sues the Creators of the Typo iPhone Keyboard Case ~ zztech

BlackBerry Sues the Creators of the Typo iPhone Keyboard Case

Published on 01-04-2014 08:54 PM

BlackBerry recently filed a suit against Typo, makers of a new snap-on iPhone keyboard case alleging that the startup “blatantly copied” BlackBerry’s own keyboard. Steve Zipperstein, BlackBerry’s General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer said the following in a release announcing the suit:

Typo's keyboard 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.

The company did not specify whether it had been in contact with Los Angeles, CA-based Typo before initiating legal action.

Designed to slip on to an iPhone 5 or iPhone 5S, Typo features a small lithium battery to power its backlit keyboard as well as a quick-access feature for entering currency symbol. The company states that early testers report faster and more accurate typing than they experience when using the iPhone’s virtual keyboard with some estimating speed increases of up to 50%.

The cleverly named keyboard case was announced in December to great fanfare thanks to no small part to its celebrity backing (Ryan Seacrest). At the time of the release, many claimed it had an old BlackBerry keyboard feels and BlackBerry seems to feel the resemblance is a bit too similar. The Canadian company is "flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones," said to Zipperstein, "but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations."

Typo released the following statement in response to BlackBerry's suit:

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.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens next.

Source: BlackBerry (Press Release )

_{This article was originally published in forum thread: BlackBerry Sues the Creators of the Typo iPhone Keyboard Case started by Akshay Masand}_{View original post}

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