Company backed by Ryan Seacrest gets sued by BlackBerry

BlackBerry is suing a company that has backing from Ryan Seacrest. BlackBerry feels that the company’s Type keyboard, a BlackBerry-style keyboard that can slide onto an iPhone, bears too much of a resemblance to BlackBerry’s own keyboard design. Typo is expected to begin shipping to pre-order customers beginning this month but the lawsuit threatens to eat away at any potential profit.

When he’s not busy hosting a show that empowers or dashes the dreams of American singers, Ryan Seacrest backs a company that built a BlackBerry-style keyboard to slide onto an iPhone. Unfortunately for him, BlackBerry thinks the Typo keyboard takes a little too much from its style and has filed suit against the company. Typo Keyboard is a Bluetooth keyboard case that slides onto an iPhone and delivers a QWERTY keyboard for the people who love their iPhones but miss the ability to type by tapping physical buttons. The problem with the keyboard is that the design bears an obvious resemblance to BlackBerry thanks to its keys that slant in two directions and have a layout reminiscent of BlackBerry products. Typo costs $99 and is expected to begin shipping to pre-order customers beginning this month. The lawsuit threatens to eat away at any potential profit and could lead to costly penalties if a judge rules against the Typo’s creators.