Facebook and its app, Instagram and WhatsApp are named as defendants in the lawsuit. The company said it intends to fight the lawsuit.
“We have a lot of respect for Facebook and the value they’ve placed on messaging capabilities, some of which were invented by BlackBerry,” BlackBerry spokeswoman Sarah McKinney said in a statement.
She said BlackBerry would like to collaborate with Facebook “in our drive toward a securely connected future, and we continue to hold this door open to them.”
“However, we have a strong claim that Facebook has infringed on our intellectual property and, after several years of dialogue, we also have an obligation to our shareholders to pursue appropriate legal remedies,” McKinney added.
Facebook shot back by disparaging BlackBerry, saying the lawsuit “sadly reflects the current state of its messaging business.”
Facebook deputy-general counsel, Paul Grewal said that “having abandoned its efforts to innovate, Blackberry is now looking to tax the innovation of others. We intend to fight,”
Blackberry has shifted concentration from the manufacture of smartphones, to refocus on cyber security software and services.
