Ryan Seacrest-backed smartphone keyboard Typo fined $860K in BlackBerry patent spat

A U.S. judge had ordered a company partly financed by Ryan Seacrest to pay $860,600 in fines for ignoring a previous court order to stop selling a device that attaches to an iPhone to give it a keyboard similar to a BlackBerry.

Typo Products, which is partially financially backed by the American Idol judge, has been ordered to pay the fine for violating a preliminary injunction that prevented it from continuing to sell its eponymous product, a keyboard case made for iPhones that gives it a keyboard and the classic look of a BlackBerry.

The fine is for punitive sanctions but also involves court costs and legal fees for both sides.

The dispute dates back to when Typo released a case for iPhone 5s and 6s, costing $99, which gave the touchscreen devices a physical keyboard that BlackBerry claimed ripped off their patented design.

The court ordered Typo to stop selling the device while the court case played out, but instead, the company renamed its device the Typo 2 and kept selling 19,000 of the older keyboards to various customers, including an individual based in Las Vegas who then resold to third parties, according to court documments. BlackBerry is seeking $2.6 million in damages from Typo.

In his decision, Judge William Orrick noted that his fines covered only a third of what BlackBerry sought, saying the amount was "directly tied to additional revenue that Typo could have expected from its illegal conduct."

"Typo's not so clever attempts to evade the court's preliminary injunction is quite certain," Orrick wrote.

Typo also shipped keyboards to customers outside of the United States and provided warranty replacements to others.

An email message to Typo was not immediately answered. Representatives for BlackBerry declined to respond, saying the court order speaks for itself.

Seacrest is an original backer of Typo along with entrepreneur Laurence Hallier, creator and CEO of Show Media, which sells advertising space on taxi cabs in the U.S.