Shares of Blackberry (TSE:BB) dropped 2.46% today after it settle a dispute with Typo Innovations over the use of the latter’s keyboards for smartphones and mobile devices with screens measuring fewer than 7.9 inches.
Typo, a US company, had been selling keyboards featuring actual physical buttons, similar in function and design to old Blackberry models, for use with the latest Apple iPhone models, giving them the feel of something that came off the Waterloo assembly line.
The Canadian company has now blocked Typo, a company backed by popular American television host Ryan Seacrest, from offering such products for sale for Apple devices.
The physical keyboards, reminiscent of Blackberry models in vogue during the early 2000’s sold at prices ranging from 79 to 99 dollars. It appealed for those feeling nostalgic for the old RIM days, yet still wanted all the features of the new Apple offerings.
The first version of this model was launched at the end of 2013. But Blackberry did not waste much time in taking Typo to task in a California court for patent infringement.
Typo was undeterred, launching an upgraded edition of its BB makeover keyboard for Apple devices, ‘Typo 2’, which was compatible with the iPads Air 1 and 2. Thereupon, Blackberry resumed the legal path, resuming legal proceedings. Indeed, Blackberry itself has been seduced by its early models, launching the ‘Classic’, a model evoking its late 2000s and early 2010s models.
On Monday, the Canadian group reported that an agreement had been reached with Typo, which has undertaken not to market its physical keyboards with devices with screens less than 7.9 inches diagonally (iPhone 6 Plus, the largest phone in the Apple lineup and has a 5.5 inch screen).
This means that Typo still has open season on the I-pad air tablets.