14 DAY TRIAL // After suing Nokia in February for patent violation, BlackBerry is now going after Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, claiming that their instant messaging platforms infringe on its own protected technologies.
In a statement for Reuters, BlackBerry says it has been evaluating a process for a long time and decided to pursue legal action because what it describes as competing applications owned by Facebook use its very own mobile messaging intellectual property without authorization (and paying, of course).
“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,” BlackBerry spokeswoman Sarah McKinney was quoted as saying.
Desperate move
BlackBerry claims that certain features that Facebook and its own units like Instagram and WhatsApp use for instant messengers are protected by its own patents, including the ability to not show timestamps next to every message in a thread. Furthermore, BlackBerry also sued Facebook for showing multiple incoming messages in an inbox and showing an unread message indicator on top of an icon.
While Facebook originally remained tight-lipped on this lawsuit, the social network decided to issue a statement, mostly to explain that this is just a desperate attempt of a collapsing company to make money out of a dying messaging platform.
“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,” Facebook said.
Nokia, which has been sued for allegedly using a total of 11 patents without authorization, said it was exploring its options, though there’s a good chance the company also goes to war with BlackBerry as well.
“We're aware of the complaint, will study the claims made and take whatever steps are necessary to defend our rights,” a company spokeswoman said last month.