Canadian smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry, which has found itself on the wrong end of a number of patent cases, scored a win in a Florida court on Monday.
A federal jury in a U.S. District Court in Florida ruled in BlackBerry’s favour in a patent infringement case brought by NXP BV. The company, which is a subsidiary of Philips spinoff company NXP Semiconductors, launched the suit in April of 2012. It alleged a number of BlackBerry products, including its Torch and Curve smartphones, infringed on six patents held by NXP related to communications, integrated circuit design and manufacturing.
According to a BlackBerry statement the verdict was a “sweeping victory” for the smartphone vendor, with the jury finding that BlackBerry did not infringe NXP’s patents and that the patents NXP asserted against BlackBerry are invalid.
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“We are pleased with the jury’s verdict,” said Steve Zipperstein, Chief Legal Officer at BlackBerry, in a statement. “While this is a victory for BlackBerry, we look forward to a time when technology companies will no longer be forced to spend huge amounts of time and money defending frivolous patent cases such as these, and instead invest their resources to drive innovation. Until then, we will vigorously defend our intellectual property rights and contest all meritless claims.”
BlackBerry recently won a round in another legal battle it’s waging; this one with Typo, which has designed a BlackBerry-like keyboard that snaps onto an iPhone. BlackBerry alleged that the Typo, which had financial backing from Ryan Seacrest, violates patents it holds. Typo has dismissed the allegations and has vowed to fight them vigorously.
Late past month, a U.S. District Court judge granted a BlackBerry request for a preliminary injunction against Typo, barring sales of the keyboard while the case proceeds. Typo said it plans to appeal the decision.