BlackBerry has filed a lawsuit against Typo Products LLC (Typo), a company that offers a physical keyboard that can be attached to some of Apple's touchscreen iPhone 5 models. Typo, founded by entrepreneur Laurence Hallier and TV host and media personality Ryan Seacrest, announced the Typo Keyboard would be available for pre-order this month. The complaint against Typo alleges patent infringement and that Typo has blatantly copied BlackBerry's keyboard with its iPhone keyboard case designed to slip on to iPhone devices.

"This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry's iconic keyboard, and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design. From the beginning, BlackBerry has always focused on offering an exceptional typing experience that combines a great design with ergonomic excellence. We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations," said Steve Zipperstein, BlackBerry's General Counsel and Chief Legal Officer.

Responding to Blackberry's lawsuit, TYPO said:

"We are aware of the lawsuit that Blackberry filed against Typo Products. Although we respect Blackberry and its intellectual property, we believe that Blackberry's claims against Typo lack merit and we intend to defend the case vigorously. We are excited about our innovative keyboard design, which is the culmination of years of development and research. The Typo keyboard has garnered an overwhelmingly positive response from the public. We are also looking forward to our product launch at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week and remain on track to begin shipping pre-orders at the end of January."

The lawsuit has been filed in the Northern District of California.