Slashdot Mirror
BlackBerry Sues iPhone Keyboard Maker Typo
judgecorp writes "Typo Products, which makes a physical keyboard for the iPhone 5 and 5S is being sued by BlackBerry. The firm — co-founded by media personality Ryan Seacrest — provides an iPhone case which includes a physical keyboard, whose keys are sculpted very like those of a classic BlackBerry phone. 'From the beginning, BlackBerry has always focused on offering an exceptional typing experience that combines a great design with ergonomic excellence. We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations,' said Steve Zipperstein, BlackBerry’s General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer."
Well for ages, Blackberry owners were raving about the quality of their keyboards, on how easy it was to type on such a small keyboard. Blackberry spent a lot of money and R&D to come up with that style, which also meant a lot of engineers got paid to do such work. Now just because blackberry is unfashionable it doesn't mean that a third party company and just go and steal their ideas. especially after Blackberry put the patent on it.
I know slashdotters have I HATE PATTENTS mind set. But this isn't a software patent which is covered by Copyright law and Patent law, this is a hardware patent, of a physical invention. Where blackberry deserves credit for their design.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.