BlackBerry has filed a second lawsuit against Typo, a company co-founded by Hollywood personality Ryan Seacrest and entrepreneur Laurence Hallier, alleging that the startup's latest iPhone keyboard case Typo2 also infringes on its patents.
"The Typo2 Keyboard still blatantly copies BlackBerry's iconic keyboard trade dress designs that have been embodied in numerous BlackBerry smartphones from the 2007 BlackBerry 8800 to the current Q10 and Classic models," BlackBerry said in its complaint filed with the US District Court for the Northern District of California, adding that the keyboard also infringes its utility patents related to the company's proprietary keyboard design, backlighting and typing automation technologies.
The company is seeking an injunction prohibiting sales of the accessory, which is available for the iPhone 5/5s as well as the iPhone 6, besides claiming monetary damages.
The first lawsuit was filed by BlackBerry back in January last year, nearly a week after the original Typo iPhone keyboard case was unveiled. A few months later, the Canadian smartphone maker won an injunction against the product.
Earlier this month, Typo Products was ordered to pay BlackBerry $860,600 in sanctions, plus attorneys' fees and costs, after the court found that the startup had blatantly violated the court's initial injunction.
Meanwhile, in an era when its contemporaries are focusing on touch-screen-only devices, Blackberry is still manufacturing phones with physical keyboards – a couple of months ago, the company launched the Classic, a smartphone that features a traditional QWERTY keyboard as well as other signature BlackBerry phone features like a trackpad.