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7 March 2018Patents

BlackBerry sues Facebook and WhatsApp for patent infringement

BlackBerry has accused Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp subsidiaries of infringing patents relating to messaging technologies.

BlackBerry filed a complaint for patent infringement yesterday, March 6, at the US District Court for the Central District of California.

The patents in question include “Previewing a new event on a small screen device (US patent number 8,209,634); “Handheld electronic device and associated method providing time data in a messaging environment” (8,301,713); “System and method for switching between an instant messaging conversation and a game in progress” (8,677,250); and “System and method for silencing notifications for a message threat” (9,349,120).

The patents cover technologies that BlackBerry said it developed for its own products. These include techniques that streamline notifications so the user is not inundated with alerts, the display of timestamps in a messaging chain, and giving users the freedom to more easily switch between playing electronic games and messaging.

In its claim, BlackBerry alleged that some of its earliest models of smartphones in the US allowed its users to receive emails and browse the internet at any time and anywhere.

“These same innovations prompted the rise of the smartphone as a necessary everyday accessory for businesspersons and ordinary consumers alike,” said BlackBerry.

It continued that it “helped pioneer modern mobile messaging”.

According to the claim, Facebook and its subsidiaries each develop, design, distribute and market products that infringe the patents. It said the defendants used BlackBerry’s IP to compete against it in the mobile messaging space. BlackBerry also alleged that Facebook is continuing to develop applications such as Facebook Messenger, Facebook Messenger Lite and Facebook Pages Manager with the use of BlackBerry’s IP.

“Defendants’ use of BlackBerry’s invention[s] and infringement of the patents-in-suit has succeeded in diverting consumers away from BlackBerry’s products and services and toward those of defendants,” said the plaintiff.

BlackBerry alleged that this has resulted in a substantial and “undeserved windfall” for Facebook, as these technologies drive its revenue. It claimed that it is entitled to revenue as a result of its own inventions.

BlackBerry requested the defendants be permanently enjoined from infringing the patents and from making, using, selling, and offering for sale its messaging applications. It is also seeking damages sufficient to compensate BlackBerry for the alleged infringements.

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