BlackBerry wins court order against Ryan Seacrest-backed Typo

TORONTO – BlackBerry has won a preliminary injunction to ban Ryan Seacrest-backed Typo Products from selling its $99 iPhone case that BlackBerry says infringes on the patent for its famous keyboard.

On Friday, a San Francisco judge ruled that BlackBerry proved a “likelihood” that Typo infringed on the Canadian smartphone maker’s patents. According to a report by Reuters, Typo did not provide sufficient proof otherwise.

Typo said it plans to appeal the decision.

READ MORE: BlackBerry sues Ryan Seacrest company

Court documents filed in January reveal BlackBerry accused Typo of copying its keyboard design in an effort to capitalize on the smartphone maker’s “commercial recognition and goodwill.”

“Typo’s keyboard product has caused and is likely to continue to cause confusion, mistake and deception as to the source of origin of (its) products,” BlackBerry said in the filing.

In February, Typo accused BlackBerry of trying to hold a monopoly over smartphone keyboards and argued that it shouldn’t have to take its case off the market.

READ MORE: Typo says BlackBerry claims unfounded

“The QWERTY keyboard has been around since the 1870s and has been present in many messaging devices,” Typo said in court documents.

Typo also noted that BlackBerry is chasing primarily business consumers while its iPhone keyboard is aiming for the consumer market.

Typo’s case, which runs on a lithium-ion battery, is a substitute for the touch screen keyboard once attached to an iPhone 5 or 5S.

The idea for the attachable keyboard was born when its founders noticed their friends were carrying two phones — “one for typing and correspondence and an iPhone for virtually everything else,” according to Typo’s website.

Ryan Seacrest is listed as one of the founders of the company on its website.

The American TV show host reportedly invested US$1 million in Typo.

With files from the Associated Press