Ryan Seacrest’s company, Typo, is being sued by BlackBerry, for possibly infringing on their patents. Typo was founded by entrepreneur Laurence Hallier and the radio and TV producer and host of “American Idol, Ryan Seacrest. The infringing technology in question is Typo’s very similar to Bb-keyboard. Typo’s keyboard is supposed to be made available for pre-order this month after debuting at CES 2014. According to Bloomberg News, Blackberry commented that Typo’s product, an external case for Apple’s iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s with an integrated physical keyboard, infringes patents and designs used in the Q10, a keyboard-equipped smartphone BlackBerry released last year. A cellphone case that attaches to an iPhone to give it a physical keyboard, is their signature product.
Steve Zipperstein who is BlackBerry’s General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer, said in a statement, “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.”
BlackBerry is seeking a court order blocking Typo from infringing on its intellectual property, and from profiting on any infringing products; Bb seeks triple damages. The Ontario-based company has also asked for an order forcing Typo to take infringing products off the market.
A spokeswoman for Typo, Erika Gutierrez, reported in an emailed statement which read, “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.
The smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd. has been in competition with both Apple and Google’s Android devices, losing business over the years. Apple Inc. is not involved in the litigation. The Typo Keyboard is set to go on sale later this month.
Summary:
Ryan Seacrest’s company, Typo, is being sued by BlackBerry, for possibly infringing on their patents. The infringing technology in question, is Typo’s very similar to Bb-keyboard. BlackBerry commented that Typo’s product, an external case for Apple’s iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s with an integrated physical keyboard, infringes patents and designs used in the Q10, a keyboard-equipped smartphone BlackBerry released last year. A cellphone case that attaches to an iPhone to give it a physical keyboard is their signature product.
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