BlackBerry settles with Typo over phone keyboards

BlackBerry has settled a lawsuit with Typo Products over a keyboard attachment for smartphones that the company claims closely resembles their products.

In a statement Monday, BlackBerry says Typo agrees to stop selling keyboards for smartphones or other mobile devices with a screen smaller than 7.9 inches. Typo could still sell accessories for devices with a screen larger than 7.9 inches.

BlackBerry sued Typo -- backed by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest -- in January claiming the keyboards for use on the iPhone was a rip off of the signature keyboard used on BlackBerry devices.

Later that month, during the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Typo co-creator Laurence Hallier backed the product. "We don't believe we violated any patents," he said in a Paste BN interview.

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