Not long ago, Typo Products LLC - a company part-founded by American Idol host Ryan Seacreast - revealed its first new product, an iPhone case with a difference, which was scheduled to release next month. The "Typo Keyboard" case covers over the iPhone's dedicated button and utilises the bezel below the screen to add a physical QWERTY keypad directly below, for easy typing without using the touch-screen - at the cost of a slight increase in the phone's length; and the dedicated iPhone button replaced by a single, tiny key. Many who saw the Typo case commented that the keyboard seemed to take design cues from the keyboard found on some BlackBerry phones - and it looks like BlackBerry themselves just took notice.
A Typo Keyboard case, minus the attached iPhone (courtesy Typokeyboards.com)
BlackBerry Ltd - the company behind the eponymous smartphones and systems - have filed a legal complaint in federal court in San Francisco, officially suing Typo Products for infringement on the basis that the Typo case's keyboard too similarly copies the design of BlackBerry's own patented keyboard as used on many of its own keyboard-equipped smartphones, most notably the recent BlackBerry Q10. “Typo chose to copy BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard design as embodied in, among others, BlackBerry’s Q10 smartphone, seeking to trade on BlackBerry’s commercial recognition and goodwill,” the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said as part of the complaint.
Left: The Typo Keyboard case attached to an iPhone. Right: A BlackBerry smartphone. Could you tell the difference between the two keyboards?
BlackBerry is seeking a court order preventing Typo from infringing BlackBerry's designs; and another order for taking those designs off the market - effectively stopping Typo Products LLC from selling the Typo Keyboard from being sold or any similar products being created in the future. The first order also sets down that should BlackBerry win the case, the requested payment from Typo Products is all the profits made from the Typo and other infinging products, plus triple damages - which could total a substantial sum and would help BlackBerry greatly in its current financial situation.
Naturally, Typo Products disagree with BlackBerry's claims, stating that the design of their own keyboard was independently developed based on years of development and research. “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,” Erika Gutierrez, a spokeswoman for Typo, said in an e-mailed statement.
For those of a legal mindset, the case is BlackBerry Ltd. v. Typo Products LLC, 14-00023, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San Francisco).
