Griffin et al., April 5, 2000.

BlackBerry Limited, formerly known as Research In Motion Limited (RIM), is a Canadian-based multinational wireless telecommunications software and mobile hardware company best known to the general public as the developer of the BlackBerry brand of smartphones and tablets.

In 1999, RIM introduced the BlackBerry 850 pager. Named in reference to the resemblance of its keyboard's keys to the druplets of the blackberry fruit, the device could receive push email from a Microsoft Exchange Server using its complementary server software, BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES). The introduction of the BlackBerry set the stage for future enterprise-oriented products from the company, such as the BlackBerry 957 in April 2000 which was the first BlackBerry smartphone.

This patent titled 'Hand Held Electronic Device with Auxiliary Input Device' was filed on the 5th of April, 2000. The device is described as having a "keyboard, thumbwheel, display and associated software" which optimized for the use of the device with thumbs! 

Originally a dominant innovative company in the smartphone market for business and government usage (with 41% U.S. market share in Q1 2010), the company's share in the U.S. personal consumer market has reduced to 0.8% by Q1 2016 due to Apple and Android device adoption.

Although the Blackberry has become a relic of an earlier smartphone era, it was a revolutionary invention that improved the world of communications and opened up the world of business transactions on the go. This patent print is our homage to a smartphone superpower.

Want to know more about the Blackberry patent print? We have created a description page here.