BlackBerry shuts Seacrest-backed company out of smartphone market

BlackBerry on Monday announced a settlement that would prohibit Typo — a Ryan Seacrest-backed company that produces smartphone keyboards — from selling them anywhere in the world. 

Under the terms, Typo would be prevented from selling keyboards for any smartphone with a screen less than 7.9 inches. That covers effectively the entire smartphone market — Apple’s biggest iPhone 6 Plus comes in at 5.5 inches. 

{mosads}A judge signed the settlement order on Friday. 

Seacrest, known for hosting “American Idol,” was a large investor in the company and is listed as one of three co-founders on the company’s website. He had also been a strong advocate for the product in the media. 

The dispute between BlackBerry and Typo dates back to Typo’s initial launch in early 2014. BlackBerry alleged from the start that the keyboard cases, which strongly resemble a BlackBerry keyboard, infringed on a number of the company’s hardware patents. 

The cases were meant to slide onto purely touch screen phones like the iPhone. They were marketed for people who like BlackBerry devices for correspondence but little else.  

BlackBerry did not disclose other details of the settlement Monday, aside from the size requirement and ban on selling the products anywhere in the world. Currently on its website, Typo is only marketing keyboards for the iPad Air and the iPad Mini. It makes no reference to their other previous products. 

BlackBerry won a preliminary injunction more than a year ago that prevented Typo from selling the smartphone cases in the United States. 

The company alleges that Typo took a number of steps to evade the ruling. A judge subsequently ordered Typo to pay $860,000 plus BlackBerry’s attorney fees. But that fine has been delayed a number of times. 

At the same time, Typo began developing a new product to work with the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 6, causing BlackBerry to sue again for infringement. 

The settlement puts both of those cases to rest.