BlackBerry Slams ‘Typo’ iPhone Keyboard in Court as “Deliberate” Copy

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Ryan Seacrest first introduced his Typo iPhone Keyboard case earlier this year in an attempt to bring the famous BlackBerry keyboard to the iPhone.

Bloomberg reports the Waterloo-based smartphone manufacturer argued in court that the Typo keyboard infringed on three patents. The judge overseeing the case said two of BlackBerry’s three patents in the case seem to be valid.

On Friday, BlackBerry lawyer Kevin Johnson told U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick that the design of the Typo case for the iPhone was an “intentional and deliberate” copy of the BlackBerry keyboard. Johnson said:

“The similarities between Typo’s iPhone case and the keyboard for BlackBerry’s Q10 smartphone are unmistakable.”

BlackBerry is trying to obtain a court order to stop the sales of the $99 Typo keyboard case for the iPhone. The Canadian smartphone maker first filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the iPhone case maker in January.

During the court hearing Orrick said:

“If the consumer can look at this and say this product is ripping off BlackBerry and knows it’s not a BlackBerry product, how does that make a difference in my analysis?”

The U.S. District Judge said he will “promptly” issue a ruling to stop the sales of the Typo keyboard for iPhone.

James Asperger, a lawyer for BlackBerry, said the company will suffer irreparable harm if Typo is allowed to continue to sell the case.

Over the past several years, BlackBerry has continued to lose market share to Apple’s iOS devices and Google’s Android smartphones. BlackBerry CEO John Chen is determined to turn the Canadian smartphone company around, but it may be a little to late to revive the company.

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