Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
If they had a patent on really ugly visible hinges they could clean up, but Samsung did that in their own.

if you dont have anything to compete with, you come back to irrelevant things like hinges, of course. seriously, who cares? only apple customers.
 
Yes they look the same, but its no different to HP, Dell or Samsung copying Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro Chiclet keys. Some HP laptops look almost identical to the MBP range its unreal.

"And yes I know Sony did do some work on Chiclet key design in 2004 and the even the Sinclair range if you want to go back that far" :), but apple popularised that type of design. I'm sure if you look into it there are other devices which resemble the Blackberries key design more so than this.

Agreed. Since this keyboard is similar, it is no different than the copy cat laptops that have been released by several companies over the years.

If Typo is going to make a keyboard, then what should they have done? Not make the keys black? Would that be enough?

Not sure this suit will get to far.

----------

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.

----------


Whether or not the design is iconic, there are enough differences to make not exactly like the BB keyboard which will be enough to get around the law suit.
 
Let it go.

Apple has copied many things.

Thus keyboard isn't like blackberry, the keys aren't even in the same place
 
That thing looks terrible... The keys are probably supplied by a "fell off the truck" type of supplier. And what about the home button? That was a 5S, so it's security or typing or taking the case off every time you want to unlock it..
Much preferred the slide out horizontal Bluetooth keyboard.
 
If Typo is going to make a keyboard, then what should they have done? Not make the keys black? Would that be enough?

It's not the color or the letters (although RIM did patent the latter arrangement).

It's the beveled cut towards each thumb, that makes this keyboard design so unique and recognizable as a Blackberry specific invention.

Since it was core to their business, RIM spent a lot of effort on keyboards. My quick search turned up over 100 design patents on them alone.

Not sure this suit will get to far.

Perhaps, but the fact that Motorola licensed the design, is a pretty good precedent.

OTOH, the design patents I've looked at so far, include the trackball/pad as well. That might be an out for the defendants. (Or I might simply have not found the right patent yet... which is easily possible.)
 
it is a pretty blatent copy. i had a blackberry once and i changed it because the bb had a dedicated key for the $ sign but not for the period (.). I can't believe typo copied that too!
 
I did a search for smart phones that come with physical keyboard...I don't know if BB's or Motorola's came first...

No, blackberry definitely came first. Their "iconic" keyboard first appeared on the blackberry messenger in 1999, which was a text-only two way pager-type device with keyboard. Very revolutionary, widely adopted, which is where BBY first became the massive company that thought they were invulnerable to all competitors...

Note the distinctive shape of the keys...

rim-850-620x.jpg


http://www.zdnet.com/a-history-of-b...andsets-and-one-meh-tablet-photos-7000009777/

Blackberry definitely has protected their "trademark keyboard" through the years, and I am not surprised that they are suing this company for blatantly copying them. I am also very surprised that someone would dare, based upon how vigorous RIM has been in past enforcements of their trademarks and patents.

The only thing that Blackberry really has going for it today as a company is its library of patents and its legal department...

EDIT: here is a nugget of information I had never heard before (from wiki): the name BlackBerry ... was chosen due to the resemblance of the keyboard's buttons to that of the drupelets that compose the blackberry fruit
 
Last edited:
No, blackberry definitely came first. Their "iconic" keyboard first appeared on the blackberry messenger in 1999, which was a text-only two way pager-type device with keyboard. Very revolutionary, widely adopted, which is where BBY first became the massive company that thought they were invulnerable to all competitors...

I remember having one of those devices in High School, people didn't understand the need for mobile Internet and email, to everyone it seemed odd as e-mail and internet was something you did at home or at the office and not on the road. :D
 
They don't use the same font, some of the keys are in different locations or nonexistent, IT IS REMOVABLE, and it is a different shape. The plastic of the keys themselves is about the same and that's it. If blackberry thinks this is worth fighting, why don't they make their own "blackberry" style keyboards for iPhones and see how well it works for them?

...

Seriously, why don't they do that??
 
If Blackberry nix this product it you know it's all futile as Chinese knockoffs will be all over eBay soon regardless.
 
The funniest part of all this is not Blackberry or TYPO, it's the Apple fans ragging on both companies, when lest we not forget, Apple SUED Samsung for a blatant design rip-off, according for die hards here. Apple friggin sued Samsung for having ROUND corners. This right here, is a COMPLETE duplicate, from the form, to the colours, to the similarity in typeface used.
 
oh lord, these blackberry folks need a red pill intervention, even if they win, who the hell would want a keyboard on their iphone? hellooo!

People who don't like on screen keyboards? Personally I think the idea is ok but in the case of the iPhone 5, it will make it look bizarrely long.

----------

I've never been a Blackberry user so I don't 'get' what makes that particular keyboard 'iconic'.

It's the exact design Blackberry have used for their keyboards for years.
 
I'm always surprised that design language is so poorly protected by law. I mean this is copying both design and feel. Blackberry despite their short comings in recent years us well within their right to pursue these guys.

The past couple of years have seen loads of macbook copies spring up and i think it's really starting to get bad especially things like the pixel from google and samsung. Its not right that things can be ripped off so easily.

The macbook is designed the way it is because the materials used determine its form. These copies have no right to use the same language especially in plastic. Its not about copyright of rectangles and layout or chicklet keyboards it's totally separate to that.

If HTC, Sony and other android guys can make products that look great in their on ID language why is it ok to copy,
 
The funniest part of all this is not Blackberry or TYPO, it's the Apple fans ragging on both companies, when lest we not forget, Apple SUED Samsung for a blatant design rip-off, according for die hards here. Apple friggin sued Samsung for having ROUND corners. This right here, is a COMPLETE duplicate, from the form, to the colours, to the similarity in typeface used.

Often repeated nonsense.
Apple did exactly the same thing as Blackberry; suing for infringement of a design patent. Which covers a design of which _one_ component is rounded corners, but for infringing the whole design patent has to be infringed.
And Samsung has design patents for their Galaxy phones, which include - guess what - rounded corners.

I'm always surprised that design language is so poorly protected by law. I mean this is copying both design and feel. Blackberry despite their short comings in recent years us well within their right to pursue these guys.

Who says it is not protected by the law? BlackBerry is suing right now. The law cannot prevent people from breaking the law, the law can only punish people for doing so.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.