BlackBerry Sues Facebook For Patent Infringement
BlackBerry Ltd has filed a lawsuit against Facebook and its apps, WhatsApp and Instagram.
The smartphone line accused Facebook of copying the technology and features from BlackBerry Messenger, thus filing a patent infringement lawsuit against the social media giant.
"Defendants created mobile messaging applications that co-opt BlackBerry's innovations, using a number of the innovative security, user interface, and functionality enhancing features," BlackBerry said upon filing with a Los Angeles federal court, told the Telegraph.
BlackBerry spokeswoman Sarah McKinney wrote in an email obtained by Reuters that it is the job of CEOs to protect the intellectual property of their companies. BlackBerry is seeking damages for their lost profits, but they did not mention any specific dollar figure.
"Having abandoned its efforts to innovate, Blackberry is now looking to tax the innovation of others. We intend to fight," Facebook general counsel Paul Grewal said in a statement retrieved by CNBC.
BlackBerry praises the innovation of Facebook but maintained their claims that the largest social media platform had copied off several ideas from them. Facebook's features that they had allegedly co-opted from BlackBerry include the "innovative security, user interface, and functionality," according to the suit.
According to Reuters, BlackBerry has been trying to ask other companies to pay licensing loyalties. The company is also currently making money out of selling cybersecurity software for automated cars.
In February last year, BlackBerry had also sued Nokia for patent infringement relating to 3G and 4G wireless communications technology. BlackBerry was ordered by an arbitration court to pay $137 million to Nokia to settle a payment dispute.
Earlier that year, chipmaker Qualcomm Inc had paid BlackBerry $940 million for a similar case of disputed payments.
Launched 19 years ago, BlackBerry was once considered one of the most purchased smartphones in the world. The smartphone was known for its secure communications and mobile productivity. However, since the takeover of Android and iOS platforms, BlackBerry has lost its dominance in the market.
