BlackBerry has filed a complaint against Snap accusing the company of infringing its patented messaging technology in the Snapchat app. The complaint, which runs a hefty 71 pages, accuses Snap of infringing six patents including map improvements for mobile devices, advertising techniques, and UI improvements for mobile devices.
It also cites Snap Maps and the display count of unread messages on a notification dot as “infringing activities.” The complaint was first reported by Bloomberg.
BlackBerry previously filed a lawsuit in March against Facebook, alleging that the social media platform, WhatsApp, and Instagram also infringed on BlackBerry’s messaging app patents.
The Snap complaint includes two patents (‘634 and ‘713) that also appear in the Facebook suit. The ‘634 patent refers to the display count notification dot, while ‘713 is a patent that discloses time data in messaging conversations.
In its heyday, BlackBerry was known for BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), a feature that let users easily send chat messages to one another from their phones, which was innovative for its time.
As we previously noted, the core of BlackBerry’s complaints is centered on the BBM feature being a cornerstone of modern mobile communications.
BlackBerry says Snap has used the company’s intellectual property to compete with it in the messaging space, diverting users from BlackBerry toward Snapchat. BlackBerry states that this resulted in “a substantial and undeserved windfall” for Snap.
