It's 2018, and BlackBerry just sued Facebook
BlackBerry is suing Facebook for patent infringement.
The Canadian tech company — adored by Kim Kardashian and once the most cherished texting device available — has accused Facebook of improperly using its "mobile messaging intelligence" in social apps including WhatsApp and Instagram.
But why now? According to BlackBerry, the company tried to work with the social network for years. BlackBerry is now seeking damages from Facebook for its lost profits.
BlackBerry, founded in 1987, pulled in $1.7 billion in revenue in 2017. Facebook, founded in 2004, surpassed $40 billion in revenue last year. In case you haven't been keeping up with BlackBerry as a company, it has bet its future of self-driving and connected car technology. Last year, it teamed up with Qualcomm on that technology, and it's also working with Chinese tech giant Baidu to develop more. BlackBerry also still creates new phones, like the BlackBerry Motion. Meanwhile, Facebook continues to run the world's largest social networks and has tried to no longer destroy democracy.
A BlackBerry spokesperson wrote in an email to Mashable:
"We have a lot of respect for Facebook and the value they’ve placed on messaging capabilities, some of which were invented by BlackBerry. 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. However, we have a strong claim that Facebook has infringed on our intellectual property, and after several years of dialogue, we also have an obligation to our shareholders to pursue appropriate legal remedies."
The lawsuit, first reported by Reuters, was filed in the Central District of California court.
The specific patents include:
Security improvement
User interface improvements
Combining mobile gaming and mobiel messaging
Battery efficient status updates for mobile devices
Among those claims include the notification for unread messages.
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The lawsuit begins by summarizing and categorizing Blackberry as a "leading innovator in the field of mobile communications for the past 30 years, having invested substantial sums into research and development of communications technologies."
The decision for BlackBerry to decide to sue so late into the dominance of Facebook and its network of apps was, uh, surprising.
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Here's the lawsuit in full:
UPDATE: March 6, 2018, 2:12 p.m. EST Facebook sent Mashable the following statement attributable to the company's deputy general counsel Paul Grewal:
“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."
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Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
