Ryan Seacrest’s tech start-up is being sued by BlackBerry.
The US television and radio host is a co-founder of Typo Products, which is working on a tactile keyboard attachment for smartphones.
According to Variety, BlackBerry has filed a complaint with the US District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming Typo “blatantly copied BlackBerry’s keyboard”.
“This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard, and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design,” BlackBerry’s general counsel and chief legal officer Steve Zipperstein said.
“We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations,” he continued in part.
A spokesperson for Typo has yet to comment.
The struggling tech company BlackBerry made headlines earlier this week when it announced Global Creative Director Alicia Keys would be stepping down from the position later this month after a year on the job.
A spokesperson for the firm said the singer had simply completed her contractual obligations and was not fired.
“BlackBerry and Alicia Keys have completed our yearlong collaboration,” the spokesperson told the New York Times.
