The maker of the BlackBerry has a message for Apple CEO Steve Jobs in the ongoing “Antennagate” scandal.

Back off.

When Jobs promised refunds for iPhone 4 customers dealing with dropped calls because of the phone's antenna design, he also implicated other smartphones as having the same issues. He specifically mentioned Research in Motion’s BlackBerry Bold 9700 and showed a video of it having trouble finding a signal.

It didn’t take long for RIM to respond.

“Apple's attempt to draw RIM into Apple's self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple's claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public's understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple's difficult situation,” read a statement from RIM executives Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.

Apple released the iPhone 4 on June 24 in the United States, the U.K., Japan, France and Germany. In the first three days, the company sold 1.7 million of the devices.

Shortly after the release, customers started to report dropped signals. Apple told them to buy a case or avoid gripping it in the lower-left corner, something now known as the “death grip.” Last week, the latest iPhone became the only version of Apple's device that Consumer Reports magazine refused to recommend. Apple stock plunged.

RIM’s statement noted that the Waterloo-based company was a global leader in antenna design and has avoided designs like the one Apple used for its latest iPhone.

“One thing is for certain, RIM's customers don't need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple,” it read.

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