Kodak wasn’t the only brand more typically associated with photography that’s been showing off smartphones at CES this year, and Polaroid had a few handsets of its own up for display. While it did launch some new connected cameras and tablets, we didn’t hear a formal announcement for any of the straight-up phones. In spite of that, the hardware still managed to catch a few eyes, especially due to how closely one of these models, the Polaroid Selfie, happened to resemble an iconic handset from another manufacturer. That attention may be more than Polaroid bargained for, as questions are now being raised about patent violations.

The Polaroid Selfie employs a rotating camera, similar to what we see on the Oppo N1 and N3. Actually, “similar” may be putting things too lightly, as this appears to be a near exact copy of the N1. Really, if it weren’t for a slightly narrower bottom bezel on the Selfie, we could mistake this for a straight N1 reproduction.

This similarity hasn’t escaped Oppo’s notice, especially because the N1’s camera is patented, and Oppo sure hasn’t licensed that design to Polaroid. In a statement, Oppo says that it’s keeping an eye on where Polaroid goes from here, and that it “reserves the right to take further legal action.”

It’s unclear what Polaroid’s launch plans for the Selfie are, but given Oppo’s objections, we imagine things just got a lot more complicated for Polaroid.

Source: Oppo
Image: Phandroid