Imitation might be the best form of flattery and BlackBerry acknowledged that but it was brutally honest that it was not pleased with how Typo Products tried to graft a keyboard to Apple iPhones and make them look like BlackBerry devices with QWERTY keyboards.
For those who might not be familiar, Typo is a $99-smartphone accessory unwrapped by a company backed by TV host Ryan Seacrest during the International CES 2014 in Las Vegas. It can be attached to an iPhone 5S or the iPhone 5 and it will turn the device into an ideal gadget for those who love tickling a physical keyboard when text messaging.
Typo was received well by the technology world but understandably earned the ire of BlackBerry that immediately made it clear that the product infringes its intellectual property. However, Typo just opted to snub the lawsuit filed by BlackBerry in January saying that the case has no merit.
Late Friday, a district court judge in California ordered stoppage of sales of the iPhone case through a preliminary injunction.
"BlackBerry has established a likelihood of proving that Typo infringes the patents at issue and Typo has not presented a substantial question of the validity of those patents. In addition, the balance of equities and the public interest weigh in favor of granting a preliminary injunction," wrote Judge William Orrick who handled the case wrote.
The iPhone case is still on sale on Typo's website but it will most likely pull it down soon. The company is also expected to appeal the order.
"Typo will continue to make and sell innovative products that busy people can't live without," the company stated.
This is not the end for the BlackBerry looking keyboard of Typo. The former needs to deposit a bond to make sure any damages incurred by the latter in case the final findings of the court with regard to infringement favors Typo. On the other hand, Typo will be doing the math and submit to the court an estimate of possible losses due to the ruling.
On the other side of the fence, BlackBerry has that "I-told-you-so" grin.
"BlackBerry is pleased that its motion for a preliminary injunction against Typo Products LLC was granted. This ruling will help prevent further injury to BlackBerry from Typo's blatant theft of our patented keyboard technology," BlackBerry stated.
During the hearing in San Francisco, BlackBerry reiterated that Typo may cause confusion of the market as iPhones will look like its products and of course will led to lost sales.
BlackBerry has been struggling in recent years with Android and Apple ruling the mobile device market. Aside from cleaning up the roll of executives, chief executive John Chen is also busy trying to tell device specification leakers to stop or face legal action.
Whether, Typo will tap out (pun intended) at the end of this legal battle remains to be seen. For now, BlackBerry will continue betting on its QWERTY keyboards and continue thanking President Barack Obama for being one of its most loyal users.
