BlackBerry is reviving its old feud with celebrity entrepreneur Ryan Seacrest, stating that his iPhone keyboard rips off the design from BlackBerry’s physical keyboards. Typo, Ryan Seacrest’s company, changed the design of its BlackBerry-inspired case after being sued last year, but it turns out that BlackBerry doesn’t think those changes make it any less of a rip off. BlackBerry is now suing Typo over the Typo 2, claiming that the case maker has once again copied its designs and patents.
Here’s what BlackBerry ahs to say about the Typo, according to The Hollywood Reporter, “Just as they did with the Typo Keyboard, Defendants have again copied numerous proprietary designs and patents in the Typo 2 Keyboard. The Typo 2 Keyboard still blatantly copies BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard dress designs that have been embodied in numberous BlackBerry smartphones from the 2007 BlackBerry 8800 to the current Q10 and Classic models.”
BlackBerry said design elements copied include having at least two of the three rows of keys extend to the side edges, and having little vertical space between the rows of keys. “These elements … are distinctive and serve to identify BlackBerry as the source of BlackBerry’s products,” BlackBerry said in its lawsuit.
Seacrest reportedly invested $1 million in the company and has promoted the start-up on CNN, at the Consumer Electronics Show and elsewhere.
Physical keyboards remain one of BlackBerry’s signature features, even as the phone’s popularity has waned.
