BlackBerry is suing three of the messaging space’s biggest companies for multiple patent violations. The Canadian firm is fighting Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp for a host of features related to its BlackBerry Messenger mobile app, which first appeared in 2005.
In its complaint BlackBerry highlights its 30 year track record in communication technology. Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, “on the other hand, are relative latecomers to the mobile messaging world.
“(The) Defendants created mobile messaging applications that co-opt BlackBerry’s innovations, using a number of the innovative security, user interface, and functionality enhancing features that made BlackBerry’s products such a critical and commercial success in the first place,” the suit adds.
Among the features cited in the suit are security improvements; notifications; time stamps on messages; swift interaction while playing games; and battery-efficient status updates. BlackBerry describes them as “‘table stakes’ for modern mobile messaging and social networking.”
Last month BlackBerry sued Nokia for a dozen patent infringements related to data transmission. Its latest battle was met with a dry response from Facebook deputy general counsel Paul Grewal, who told Cheddar: “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.”
The news comes as BlackBerry, which no longer makes hardware, steps up its latest strategy to license security software to third parties. Last September it teamed with Chinese firm NTD, while today BlackBerry announced a deal with Swiss phone-maker Punkt, known for a pared-down dumbphone it released last year.