Facebook Sues BlackBerry Over Voice Messaging Technology

It’s common for tech companies that get sued for patent infringement to hit the company suing them with a similar lawsuit in kind. Merely months after BlackBerry sued Facebook and alleged that the social network in addition to WhatsApp and Instagram had infringed on its messaging app patents, Facebook has hit back at BlackBerry with its own lawsuit claiming that the company has stolen its voice messaging technology.

Facebook has filed the lawsuit in a San Francisco federal court, alleging that BlackBerry has infringed on several patents related to voice messaging, tracking and analysis of GPS data, and how graphics are delivered by a mobile device. Facebook is asking for unspecified damages for the infringement of six patents.

This is in response to BlackBerry’s earlier lawsuit against Facebook which claimed that the social media giant was “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 patents cited in the lawsuit cover a wide range of interface elements such as tagging friends and family in photos, displaying timestamps on messages, and more. No word as yet if both companies will be willing to get together and settle the matter out of court.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: General
Tags: BlackBerry, Facebook