BlackBerry is claiming
infringement on patents it holds for message encryption and notifications, and
is seeking an injunction as well as damages for lost profits, although no
figure was given.
Facebook and its
wholly-owned services Instagram and What Sapp are named as defendants in the
lawsuit. The company said it intends to fight the lawsuit.
“We have a lot of
respect for Facebook and the value they’ve placed on messaging capabilities,
some of which were invented by BlackBerry,” BlackBerry spokeswoman Sarah
McKinney said in a statement.
She said BlackBerry
would like to partner with Facebook “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,” McKinney added.
Facebook shot back by
disparaging BlackBerry, saying the lawsuit “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 deputy general counsel Paul Grewal said.
BlackBerry, after
abandoning the manufacture of its once-popular smartphones, which it also
pioneered, has refocused its core business on cyber security software and
services.
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