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Typo, the Blackberry-like keyboard case for the iPhone, permanently withdrawn from sale

Ben Lovejoy Jun 1 2015 - 6:38 am PT

9 Comments

Typo, the iPhone keyboard case that bore more than a passing resemblance to the Blackberry keyboard, is being permanently withdrawn from sale as part of a lawsuit settlement.

Typo Products, co-founded by TV personality Ryan Seacrest, launched the original version of the keyboard early last year. Blackberry wasted no time in suing the company for alleged patent infringement, winning an injunction against its sale and later collecting $860k in damages.

Undeterred, Typo released a modified version of the keyboard which it claimed didn’t infringe Blackberry’s patents. Blackberry disagreed and took Typo back to court again. Blackberry says that case has now been settled, with Typo agreeing to permanently withdraw its iPhone keyboard cases from sale.

The settlement refers to keyboards for devices “smaller than 7.9 inches,” meaning Typo is free to continue selling its iPad mini model.

Via the WSJ

• iOS Devices
• iPhone
• Apple News
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• patents

Typo ordered to pay BlackBerry $860k for selling its knockoff iPhone keyboard case

Jordan Kahn Feb 5 2015 - 6:12 am PT

4 Comments

Typo, the Ryan Seacrest-backed company selling an iPhone case with an integrated hardware keyboard, has been ordered to pay BlackBerry around $860,600 in the ongoing case between the two companies, Reuters reports. 

If you’re unfamiliar, BlackBerry didn’t particularly like the Typo keyboard’s resemblance to its own iconic, albeit obsolete, keyboard included on its dwindling smartphone lineup and covered by its patents. After the court handed down an injunction following an original suit filed in January of 2014, a US District Judge in San Francisco ruled this week that Typo will have to pay the £567,303, or approximately $860,600, fine for violating the injunction and continuing to sell the product.

Despite little interest from anyone and generally poor reviews, Typo plans to keep making its keyboard cases and noted to Reuters that the fines do not relate to its latest generation of Typo 2 products unveiled at CES last month.