Typo Products said in a court filing late on Tuesday that BlackBerry’s patent claims related to an attachable keyboard accessory for Apple Inc’s iPhones don’t comply with legal requirements for patentability.
BlackBerry sued Typo last month, saying its physical keyboard that can be attached to some of Apple’s iPhone models infringes patents.
BlackBerry claimed that Typo’s keyboard infringes its design and alleged that the startup’s keyboard featuring angled miniature keys is similar to those on many BlackBerry devices.
In a request to a federal court in San Francisco, Typo asked a U.S. judge to rule that the patents have not been infringed and to declare some of the claims invalid and unenforceable.
Typo said that one of the patents is not enforceable because the design was widely available for sale in 1988, prior to the BlackBerry patent approval, and this was not disclosed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Typo urged the judge to dismiss every claim in BlackBerry’s complaint with prejudice and not be subject to further action, the filing showed.
Typo also asked the court for a permanent injunction to prevent BlackBerry from suing or threatening to sue the company for patent infringement.
The case is BlackBerry Ltd v. Typo Products LLC, case no. 3:14-cv-23 in the United States District Court for the northern district of California.[signoff predefined=”Enjoy this?” icon=”icon-users”][/signoff]
