Ryan Seacrest is pictured May 11, 2013, in Carson, Calif. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Dan Steinberg/Invision
January 03, 2014 - 10:20 AM
WATERLOO, Ont. - BlackBerry (TSX:BB) is suing Typo Products, a company co-founded by TV personality Ryan Seacrest, saying that its new iPhone case rips off the famous BlackBerry keyboard.
Typo Products did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Seacrest is the host of "American Idol," weekly countdown radio show "American Top 40," and a producer on various American television shows.
He founded Typo alongside entrepreneur Laurence Hallier.
The Typo case is already available for preorder online, but will make its official debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.
BlackBerry's lawsuit comes as the company moves to protect its keyboard, one of the key differentiators between its smartphone and most other competitors on the market.
"We will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design," said Blackberry chief legal officer Steve Zipperstein in a release.
"We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations."
BlackBerry shares were down 14 cents to $8.07 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014