[alanh]

Sue them for what? Are trade secrets involved? Are the bitmaps directly lifted from RIM property? Because there is no copyright protection for the general idea of an interface!

Edit: Patent ≠ copyright, but nonetheless a patent suit would be interesting, damned weak, and unlikely to be resolved for years (IANAL)

[mikeryan]

Because there is no copyright protection for the general idea of an interface!

This isn't actually true, you can patent interfaces. Notoriously, a TV channel guide which has a grid interface with channels and times represented as columns and rows is patented (originally by TVGuide, now owned by Rovi). Every Guide you see on a cable or satellite box in the US pays a licensing fee to Rovi.

http://www.wipo.int/pctdb/en/wo.jsp?WO=1998053607

[orangecat]

Wow, and filed in 1998? How is every spreadsheet in the world not prior art?

[lukeschlather]

Don't Apple's lawsuits against Android almost completely revolve around general ideas of interfaces?

[skymt]

A patent suit is possible. RIM has a number of mobile UI patents. I'm not familiar with Kik's UI, but if it's as close as I've heard, they could be infringing on a patent like this one: http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=6lKrAAAAEBAJ