Maybe one of the dumbest things BB could do right about now…
I’m tied into tech and the Typo iPhone case barely made a blip on my radar. It’s a case with a hardware QWERTY keyboard designed for iPhone 5/5S. There’s nothing particularly special about that. There have been a number of keyboard solutions for the iPhone over the years, some portrait, some landscape sliders.
It’s sort of an “old fashioned” idea that many people will poo-poo anyway as there seems to be a collective hatred of hardware keyboards from the self-proclaimed “Tech Elite” on the intarwebs.
Here’s a video showing the Typo off:
About the only novel aspect of Typo was the fact that it was backed by Ryan Seacrest of all people. No. Big. Whoop.
That is until Blackberry went and stepped their foot in it.
Delivered via press release, BB Chief Legal Counsel Steve Zipperstein had this to say:
“This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard, and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design. From the beginning, BlackBerry has always focused on offering an exceptional typing experience that combines a great design with ergonomic excellence. 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,”
Would the Typo have been a success on its own? Backed by Seacrest, probably yes, but I still have significant doubts that it would have been high mind share. Regardless of the legal outcome, Blackberry just guaranteed that it’s going to show up in a lot more headlines now. You just can’t buy that kind of publicity…
Full BB PR after the jump.