BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion has sued Kick Messenger for patent infringement.
It all began when Kik Messenger gained popularity and was taken off the Blackberry App Market by RIM due to breached contractual obligations. After it was Taken off the market, the Kik Messenger team sent an open letter to RIM urging them to reverse their decision. Unfortunately for Kik Messenger RIM sued them, issuing a statement that the man behind Kik Messenger Ted Livingston was a former RIM employee who worked on BBM and used confidential information from the Alliance program when developing Kik Messenger.
Kik Messenger Founder, Teed Livingston had this to say on his Blog on the issue.
"RIM sued us yesterday. A courier came to drop off a package. I opened up the letter to see a stack of papers with a big gold seal on the first page. Plaintiff: Research in Motion Inc. Defendant: Kik Interactive Inc. RIM, the company I worked for as a co-op student. The company I loved. The company that I thought could benefit from Kik’s vision for a mobile community. The company that placed Kik on Blackberry App World without issue. The company I shared our entire plan with every step of the way, is suing us.
I’m not afraid. I’m not surprised. But I am disappointed.
RIM, I wish it could have been different. I wish you would have returned our calls. I wish we could have worked together to bring great things to all of our users.
Maybe next time."
Now that Kik Messenger is no longer abailable on Blackberry, WhatApp has gained popularity and is currently the number 1 App on the iPhone App Market.
We wish Kik Messenger good luck and hope they don't get pummeled by RIM's Lawyers.
