BlackBerry Sues Ryan Seacrest's Startup Over 'Typo' iPhone Keyboard

LOL, that is pretty egregious. The keys look almost identical. However, litigating 20th century tech, in physical keyboards, I mean, that's kind of a low point. Blatant rip-off, but I mean, the physical keyboard is so 2000-late.

I had to get that last line in there, as I've heard people say that and I think it's dumb. Also, in referencing that last line, it would seem my previous 20th century tech line has become obsolete for its intended purpose.

Whatev.

----------
Anonymous Freak said:
...This one is rather egregious. I'm sure they'll change the look of the keys before final production to avoid the lawsuit.
Click to expand...


I just saw your post after mine.... it would seem I jacked your word "egregious," but I can assure you I replied to the thread without reading one damn post.:) That was really the most suiting word I could come up with.
 
johncarync said:
I did a search for smart phones that come with physical keyboards. NONE of the following have the distinctive tapered keys found on the BlackBerry: Nokia, Samsung, HTC, LG, or Sony.

BUT, there is one company that does use these unique, thumb-friendly keys: MOTOROLA.

I don't know if BB's or Motorola's came first but, if BlackBerry is going to sue Typo, it seems like there might be grounds for a suit between BlackBerry and Motorola as well.

Image
Click to expand...

Which it won't happen because it's ridiculous. RIM is just gasping for air. I have probably used about 100 different company keyboards during my lifetime and 99% of them look exactly the same and no one has ever sued the other company because of intellectual property infringement. Stupidity at best.
 
It is pretty blatant. How many exact copyrights are affected will be for the courts to decide.

But I DO want this. This looks great if it actually works well and will be able to hit the market.

Now I need an old IBM keyboard for Mac and MacBook....
 
AnonMac50 said:
But Apple did sue for products that hardly looked like iPhones and iPads.
Click to expand...

Which products would that be? Are you talking about eMachine's copy of the initial iMac (which admittedly hardly looked like an iPhone or iPad)? And was this about design patents? I remember a case about a Samsung tablet that was so similar to an iPad that Samsung's own lawyer couldn't tell them apart...

furi0usbee said:
It's a good thing Typo removed the BB logo before they went to production...
Click to expand...

Logos cannot be part of a design patent, and different logos cannot serve as an excuse. If product B looks exactly like product A except for the logo, which is totally different, then it would still be in violation of design patents.

----------
diddl14 said:
They could have at least used a different font.
Click to expand...

Look closely. They did. For example with the C and the G, the difference is very obvious.
 
NewbieCanada said:
What are the chances they'll still be around by the time the case hits court?
Click to expand...

Physical keyboards have a better chance staging a comeback than RIM has to be around to take this case all the way.

RIM attorney: "Your honor, they stole our super-great idea that made our keyboards what they are/were. Your honor, I can hear that you are still using a physical keyboard as well."

Judge: "Nah, that's just me forgetting to turn off "keyboard clicks" in my iOS sound settings. I should do that now. OH, and case dismissed."

----------
gnasher729 said:
I remember a case about a Samsung tablet that was so similar to an iPad that Samsung's own lawyer couldn't tell them apart...
Click to expand...

That's not a lawyer I want to represent me... if you can't tell an iPad from a Samsung tablet... what gave it away, all that aluminum and glass?

----------

The ad says "Type faster with fewer typos." And oh yeah, let's call the company Typo...

In related news, 80 year old word processors (blue haired female types) have sued Typo over the use of the word typo. Samsung is considering getting involved.

----------

What is wrong with the iPhone they have in that Typo ad? It has silver sides with a black face. Apple does not make the 5s in that color scheme. What gives?
 
ftaok said:
In my opinion, the Typo keyboard is too similar looking to the BB keyboard. I don't care about the font used or the symbol placement ... it's the shape of the keys that the problem. I think the way the keys are scallopped makes the typo look just like the BB keyboard.
Click to expand...

Along with the story that this was their way around having to carry two phones, one with a keyboard for messaging and an iPhone.

Quite clearly the keyboard phone they meant was the Blackberry, and the new keyboard was meant to mimic its unique key shapes enough that the user could use their current finger familiarity.

As for the comparisons to chiclet keys, that shape is not unique. Chiclet keys have been around for decades. Many of us recall that they were a sign of a cheap home computer in the early days.

mrjr101 said:
I have probably used about 100 different company keyboards during my lifetime and 99% of them look exactly the same and no one has ever sued the other company because of intellectual property infringement. Stupidity at best.
Click to expand...

Do you know of a keyboard that looked like RIM's, before RIM did it? That might be a good defense.

Time to go look up their design patents...
 
Last edited:
I hope they manage to release this product. I have an aunt who refuses to abandon her Blackberry because of the keyboard.
 
kdarling said:
Do you know of a keyboard that looked like RIM's, before RIM did it? That might be a good defense.
Click to expand...

Someone already posted above a keyboard from Motorola almost identical to that of Blackberry. But no, RIM won't go after Motorola, they'll go after a start-up company, that's really classy. Besides, I was referring to desktop keyboards.
 
27 of the keys are pretty well predefined as to their location (letters and space).
Enter and backspace are going to go on the right. Shift and ALT and any other control key are at/near bottom and towards the sides.

If you want a keypad design for the numbers you're going to probably put them on the left or right for touch typing and due to other function keys you're going to put them one column in (from left or right); so two choices, IF you want a number pad.

Run some numbers on frequency of characters and voila!

Other than the key color, I think it looks like my old Palm Treo keyboard.

Gary
 
mrjr101 said:
Someone already posted above a keyboard from Motorola almost identical to that of Blackberry.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Somehow I missed that post with the Moto pictures.

But no, RIM won't go after Motorola, they'll go after a start-up company, that's really classy.
Click to expand...

RIM already went after Motorola in 2008, in a patent lawsuit exchange.

They settled in 2010, and Motorola got a cross-license to use RIM's thumb friendly keyboard.

Besides, I was referring to desktop keyboards.
Click to expand...

Ah, sorry.
 
kdarling said:
They settled in 2010, and Motorola got a cross-license to use RIM's thumb friendly keyboard.
Click to expand...

Ah. Interesting. They are so touchy feeling about that keyboard design huh. I understand the IP defense as a whole but I don't see how this is the best thing since apple pie specially when is already a thing of the past.
 
musika said:
Good for them. Look at that design. There could've been something done to differentiate.
Click to expand...

I'm not doubting that the Typo keyboard apparently did "lift" the design from the original BB keyboards…. but I fail to see how this copycat keyboard has caused material damage to Blackberry's business. Are they implying that by providing a BB-esque keyboard for iPhones has led to lost sales of BB handsets? Methinks that BB market share was already a declining basket-case loooong before this keyboard. They've already been bleeding market share long before this, and goes all the way back to the original iPhone introduction circa 2007.

If I were the Judge, the best I could do is to slap a token fine for design copying/infringement. But I would not award BB a single dollar they would ask for material damages because "it was detrimental to Blackberry's business blah blah blah". Sorry, no. The reason for decreased BB sales was NOT because of this keyboard accessory. The reason for decreased BB sales was due to their inability to compete with the touch-screen competition (iOS and Android phones).
 
Windlasher said:
If you can't innovate your way out of a hole, Sue someone!!!
Click to expand...

If Typo can't innovate its way out of nonexistence, steal from someone! :rolleyes: Seriously, I wish down votes were back.

I hate Blackberries and have recently been annoyed by the company itself and its CEO, but come ON. This is a copy worthy of China status. I've never owned a Blackberry, but even I can identify that keyboard. The design is iconic, as they said.

----------
Solomani said:
I'm not doubting that the Typo keyboard apparently did "lift" the design from the original BB keyboards…. but I fail to see how this copycat keyboard has caused material damage to Blackberry's business. Are they implying that by providing a BB-esque keyboard for iPhones has led to lost sales of BB handsets?
Click to expand...

As the article said, people were carrying a Blackberry and an iPhone because the iPhone had no Blackberry keyboard. Now they don't have to.

----------
Lionel Messi said:
Here is a side-by-side comparison of Apple's 11-inch MacBook Air next to Samsung's 11-inch Chromebook. And no lawsuit filed against Samsung regarding this.

Image
Click to expand...

The media and the court makes an Apple lawsuit definitely not worth it. Dell, HP, and Acer have their MacBook Air/Pro copies besides every other PC maker suddenly having a few designs that must have been influenced by MacBooks, but even HP's copy isn't nearly as bad as this.

Envy15_angled.jpg


P.S. **** Samsung. Piece of trash company. They even make horrible TVs (I have one).
 
Last edited:
I'm sure they stole the design because the first thing a young company wants people to think when consumers see their products is "Blackberry"...
 
furi0usbee said:
LOL, that is pretty egregious. The keys look almost identical. However, litigating 20th century tech, in physical keyboards, I mean, that's kind of a low point. Blatant rip-off, but I mean, the physical keyboard is so 2000-late.
Click to expand...

It's also the only thing Blackberry has left - sue similarity.

furi0usbee said:
I just saw your post after mine.... it would seem I jacked your word "egregious," but I can assure you I replied to the thread without reading one damn post.:) That was really the most suiting word I could come up with.
Click to expand...

:-D It's a fun word to use.
 
Lionel Messi said:
Here is a side-by-side comparison of Apple's 11-inch MacBook Air next to Samsung's 11-inch Chromebook. And no lawsuit filed against Samsung regarding this.

Image
Click to expand...

how could they file lawsuits?

has apple invented and filed patents on a silver case color, a specific thickness, rectangular screens, rectangular keyboard keys with rounded edges, black key colors, white printings on keyboard keys or camera and brandings centered on the top/bottom of the screen?
 
Solomani said:
I'm not doubting that the Typo keyboard apparently did "lift" the design from the original BB keyboards…. but I fail to see how this copycat keyboard has caused material damage to Blackberry's business. Are they implying that by providing a BB-esque keyboard for iPhones has led to lost sales of BB handsets?
Click to expand...

It has been said that Motorola paid an unknown amount of money for a license to make keyboards matching RIM's design patent. This company didn't pay. So RIM was materially damaged by not receiving these license fees. Your argument that RIM's sales were declining anyway is rubbish. Are you saying that if someone is going bankrupt, I should be allowed to empty their bank account because they are bankrupt anyway?

And anyway, the owner of a design patent has the right to just not allow anyone to make any products matching the design patents. So the judge should tell this company to stop production and sales, and ask every customer to return their keyboard for a full refund, then send a list of all customers who didn't return it to RIM to be sued. Assuming that the company is found to be infringing on the patent.
 
Last edited:
N64 said:
If Typo can't innovate its way out of nonexistence, steal from someone! :rolleyes: Seriously, I wish down votes were back.

I hate Blackberries and have recently been annoyed by the company itself and its CEO, but come ON. This is a copy worthy of China status. I've never owned a Blackberry, but even I can identify that keyboard. The design is iconic, as they said. .
Click to expand...


Well that is your opinion. But tell me what are they going to get from suing? "Eh, judge we estimate that they will sell 5 billion of them and should pay us now."

So now they go back and change the molds a tiny bit, and move a few keys around. Case settled. A nice cease & desist letter would probably have worked.

Blackberry for now is DEAD unless they can sell services in some unique way. People have a vested interest over the last 7 years in Droids or iPhones and BB probably ain't getting them back.
 
Last edited:
the-msa said:
how could they file lawsuits?

has apple invented and filed patents on a silver case color, a specific thickness, rectangular screens, rectangular keyboard keys with rounded edges, black key colors, white printings on keyboard keys or camera and brandings centered on the top/bottom of the screen?
Click to expand...

If they had a patent on really ugly visible hinges they could clean up, but Samsung did that in their own.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top