Here is the next case in our trio:

BlackBerry – Consider the problems faced by Canada’s world-leader in mobile devices. You open an app store to compete with Apple, so the little guys can develop interesting apps. The problem is, little guys keep developing interesting apps. In Research in Motion Ltd. v Kik Interactive Inc. [Statement of Claim available here], filed in November, RIM sued Kik, an upstart messaging service that had grown wildly popular in the previous several weeks (over 2 million Kik users reportedly signed up within the space of a month). In its suit, RIM alleges patent and trade-mark infringement as well as misuse of confidential information – (the principal of Kik is a former employee of RIM) – and privacy violations.  This shows the difficulty of controlling ex-employees and independent developers, and RIM is not alone. Apple has booted apps that mimic its own core services or threaten the bottom-line (most famously, Google’s VOIP apps). 

Moving to India, RIM faces another challenge in the form of Bharatberry, an app created by an independent Indian developer that provides an “India-compliant solution to the existing users of the BlackBerry® service in India”, and appears to piggy-back on BlackBerry hardware to run a parallel email and messaging service through its own servers, rather than through RIM servers.  This service was developed in the wake of concerns that the BlackBerry service would be disrupted in India if RIM did not solve the Indian government’s demands to have access to RIM’s encrypted e-mail traffic.

 

Calgary – 07:00 MST