BlackBerry is earning its little victories bit by bit. Apart from recent gains in the stock market, the company won a court battle against Ryan Seacrest’s phone accessory company behind the Typo iPhone keyboard.
The court order temporarily halts Typo from selling its iPhone keyboard, which is eerily familiar to BlackBerry’s physical keyboards (as seen in this photo), citing that Typo’s product might have infringed on BlackBerry’s patents. Also, U.S. District Judge William Orrick in San Francisco stated that BlackBerry will “likely to prevail” on its infrigement claims, as Typo has not made a strong challenge to the validity of BlackBerry’s patents.
During the hearing, Typo claims its iPhone keyboard does not harm BlackBerry at all since the Canadian smartphone company is already losing market share. The judge also rejected the defendant’s pleas that the temporary sales ban may put Ryan Seacrest’s company out of business as it cannot fulfill orders of the Typo iPhone keyboard.
In a statement, Typo said it is disappointed about the decision and will appeal the order, adding it will “continue to make and sell innovative products that busy people can’t live without.”
The ruling also requires BlackBerry to post a bond, the amount of which should be enough to pay damages to Typo if in case it is later found that the temporary sales ban should not have been granted. The injunction starts once BlackBerry posts bond, which could take as long as two weeks.
In the meantime, Typo is offering a limited-time-only “same day shipping,” so we think this is the best time to purchase the $99 Typo iPhone keyboard.
Source: Engadget
