After a brush with litigation, iPhone case creator Typo has come back swinging with a new keyboard design that it claims differs from its first attempt, which was accused of getting just a bit too much inspiration from BlackBerry.
A San Francisco court granted a preliminary injunction in March that Typo, which was cofounded by TV producer Ryan Seacrest, could no longer sell its product on the grounds that it too closely resembled the physical keyboard on BlackBerry phones.
Like the first Typo, this version has a QWERTY keyboard that snaps onto an iPhone. Some new features include a keyboard backlight behind the keyboard and a lock key that prevents users from accidentally pressing buttons. Typo 2 also moves a few keys around and changed many of the button designs.
Matthew Larson, a lawyer not associated with the case who specializes in patent litigation, predicts BlackBerry will not approve of the changes enough to drop the case.
- "It's not going to be enough to deter BlackBerry from bringing additional claims," he told Mashable. "They would try to tie Typo 2 into the existing litigation."
- Typo 2's website makes no mention of the original product but merely explains the thought process for the new one.
- "Typo 2 was born out of a desire for efficiency. For several years, many of our friends and colleagues carried two phones: one for typing and correspondence and an iPhone for virtually everything else," the website reads.
- The case is selling for $99 on pre-order and will ship in mid-September.
- BlackBerry declined to comment on the new product.
BLACKBERRY, DEV & DESIGN, IPHONE, IPHONE CASE, MOBILE, TECH, TYPO, MOBILE.
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