BlackBerry, once upon a time a leader in the smartphone industry, has sued Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram over messaging patents. The suit is on the grounds of patent infringement, but rumor has it that the phone company is just “acting up” out of spite because Facebook’s has not bought them out.
The filing, which is not available online as of this writing, was made on Tuesday after “several years of dialogue” with the world’s largest social media platform. Blackberry issued a statement saying:
“As a cybersecurity and embedded software leader, BlackBerry’s view is that Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp could make great partners in our drive toward a securely connected future, and we continue to hold this door open to them.”
Facebook isn’t too eager either to get its hands on the formerly successful company, as it claims that Blackberry does not want to innovate any longer, but intends to stay alive by latching onto others’ innovations without doing anything particularly innovative themselves.
Here’s Facebook’s statement on the BlackBerry lawsuit filed today: “Blackberry’s suit sadly reflects the current state of its messaging business. Having abandoned its efforts to innovate, Blackberry is now looking to tax the innovation of others. We intend to fight.”
— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) March 6, 2018
BlackBerry’s allegations against Facebook
Over their years of success, Blackberry has amassed a portfolio of patented software which includes basic features that modern messaging apps provide.
The core of the BlackBerry lawsuit is that the proprietary and patent-protected messaging product, BlackBerry Messenger, was the pioneer of messaging apps.
This is not the first time Blackberry has sued a company for this reason, since Google’s Android and fellow phone maker BLU were earlier victims. The company started the patented campaign secretly in 2016 and blindsided the previously mentioned smartphone contenders, and now Facebook has to pay up.
The features that Blackberry has patented over the years are so simple that they can be hardly be considered or perceived as features.
Blackberry has even stepped away from the smartphone industry and has switched the direction of its path towards software service engineering. Although Blackberry phones continue to exist, it is solely due to Chinese consumers who paid to be allowed to sell the phone under the Blackberry name.
This lawsuit feels desperate and completely out of left field, but BlackBerry says it’s been pondering a suit for “years.”
— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) March 6, 2018
Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp will see BlackBerry in court
Facebook plans to fight back against the suit, as it is not keen on letting Blackberry latch onto projects that have nothing to do with the company, with the apparent rumor that the suit comes from Facebook’s refusal to buy Blackberry.
“BlackBerry’s suit sadly reflects the current state of its messaging business,” Facebook Deputy General Counsel Paul Grewal said in a statement. “Having abandoned its efforts to innovate, BlackBerry is now looking to tax the innovation of others. We intend to fight.”
Source: Reuters
