this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2025
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846
BlackBerry's iconic keyboard patent has expired (mobilesyrup.com)
submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
163 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I had two BlackBerry devices for work, right about the time they were going away. I'd heard the keyboard was good on earlier models but it seemed like the quality had gotten pretty cheap on the later phones. The BlackBerry 10 OS on my last phone was actually pretty good, and probably would've kept them in the market if they'd launched it 5 years earlier.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 days ago

TL:DR patents are important, but easily abused.

Yes, I'll try.

Patents can cover many aspects of design. Sometimes, these aspects are positive and deserve protection for the original inventors. Other times, the claims could be so obscure and 'thats obvious to anyone' that it's a waste to protect them - but (sometimes ignorant) patent attorneys fail to do their research and award patents anyway.

It could be that the keyboard being below the screen in that form factor was considered novel. It could be the trackball used in the centre. It could be the two combined, then attached to a phone. It could be the shaping and ergonomic aspect of the keyboard. It could be raises or detents to aid location of keys for fast typing on a handheld device.