BlackBerry Files Patent Lawsuit Against Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram

BlackBerry has filed a patent lawsuit against the largest social media app Facebook and other Facebook-owned apps like WhatsApp and Instagram. According to Reuters, BlackBerry accuses Facebook has developed competing applications that violate BlackBerry’s mobile messaging intellectual property. Even the company is said to be in dialogue with Facebook over this issue and only after several years, they have decided to take legal action.

The Canada-based company is accusing Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram copied technology and features from BlackBerry Messenger. The BlackBerry Messenger is one of the very first mobile-based instant messaging services the world has seen.Though it was initially limited only to BlackBerry devices, the company released the iOS and Android apps in 2013. However, it became too late for the company to catch up with the other popular instant messaging apps available on both these OS.

Facebook in return replied to fight the lawsuit in the court and also mentioned that BlackBerry is trying to tax the innovation of others. While BlackBerry had lost its charm in the hardware business, it is doing good in the software business. In the second half of 2017, the company had reported record revenue from its software business. It also gets royalties from several other tech companies by licensing its technology.

In early 2017, BlackBerry sued Nokia over the alleged infringement of patents related to 3G and 4G technology. While the company will start to fight against Facebook in the court, we are yet to hear the outcome of the BlackBerry vs Nokia case. Let’s wait and see if Facebook will start paying royalties to BlackBerry or not. In 2017 alone, BlackBerry made Qualcomm and Blu pay the royalties.

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