Useful New Product Threatens Older Company’s Market Share; Judge Issues Sales Ban

In January I
wrote about the Typo, a product that allows you to attach a
keypad to an iPhone. The device immediately inspired an
intellectual-property suit from BlackBerry, which argued
that the Typo’s keyboard was too similar to the keyboard found
on BlackBerry’s phones. I’m sorry to report that a U.S. district
judge has now issued a
preliminary injunction prohibiting sales of the Typo as the
case moves forward.

As I wrote in January, the biggest problem here is

the fact that it’s possible to
drag a company into court for making this kind of product in the
first place. A device that lets you mix and match elements of the
iPhone and BlackBerry is an innovative and useful technology. The
Typo isn’t the only product that offers this possibility—the
bulkier
Keyboard Buddy Case has been on the market for a while, for
instance, and the Solomatrix Spike attaches a
keyboard to an iPhone on some hinges, so you can swing it on and
off as needed. But the Typo has its own distinctive approach to the
design and engineering issues involved, and at least some users
think it’s the
best available option.

It could also lead to still better options. Right now the market
evidently has room for just one major smartphone with a physical
keyboard, and the business that makes that product is
struggling. No one expects another company to start
manufacturing a new keypad phone anytime soon. But a phone
accessory that serves the same market niche: That may make
sense. If the Typo does well, there’s a decent chance that other
enterprises will follow.

Unfortunately for BlackBerry, that may threaten its strategy for
survival, which is to
pursue the keyboard crowd at a time when other phone-makers
aren’t serving that market. You can’t help wondering whether the
primary purpose of the Typo suit is to squash some
competition.