BlackBerry (yes, it’s still a thing apparently) has a bone to pick with Snapchat like everyone else. The Canadian tech company is suing Snap Inc., the parent company of the social media platform, for patent infringement.
BlackBerry has been a little lawsuit-happy these days: As Mashable notes, BlackBerry added to Facebook's growing list of problems by suing them for allegedly misusing its "mobile messaging intelligence” across its various platforms and companies.
In the suit against Snap—which has nothing to do with Rihanna, sadly—BlackBerry alleges that Snap infringed on six of its patents pertaining to Modern Mobile Advertising Techniques, User Interface Improvements for Mobile Devices, and Map Improvement for Mobile Devices. Regarding the latter, BB is referring to Snapchat’s recently launched Snap Maps.
A spokesperson for BlackBerry told Mashable in a statement, “BlackBerry has a well-earned reputation for protecting and securing our customers’ data and privacy. For more than a year we have been working to establish a dialogue with Snap as we believe there are far more opportunities for partnership than disagreement. While we continue to hold this door open, we also have a strong claim that Snap infringed on our intellectual property, harmed our shareholders, and we have an obligation to pursue appropriate legal remedies.” Consider the gauntlet emoji thrown.
