Former smartphone king Research in Motion, the creator of the popular BlackBerry line of devices, has been having a tough go of its business lately.
The latest blow: A federal judge in New Mexico on Tuesday ruled to temporarily block RIM from using the name “BBX” for its new operating system across the globe, after a trademark infringement claim was filed by Basis International Ltd, an Albuquerque-based software company that has marketed its own product under the name “BBX” since 1985, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“The BBX mark is identical to the mark which RIM is allegedly using to presenting its BBX product,” Judge Judge William Johnson ruled in the District Court of New Mexico, later adding “there is sufficient similarity in this case to weigh in favor of Basis.”
The temporary restraining order had been sought by Basis to stop RIM from using the “BBX” trademark during a developers conference in Singapore on Wednesday and Thursday, where RIM was handing out free copies of its oft–discounted BlackBerry PlayBook tablet to attendees.
And indeed, BlackBerry complied with the order, tweeting on Wednesday that the new operating system would be called “BlackBerry 10.”
“RIM doesn’t typically comment on pending litigation, however RIM has already unveiled a new brand name for its next generation mobile platform,” a spokesperson later told the Journal.
The new software is designed to unify BlackBerry’s currently disparate smartphone and tablet operating systems into one coherent platform (much in the way Google is attempting to do with Android Ice Cream Sandwich) and turn it into a cohesive product that can compete with the flashier mobile offerings from Google and Apple.
BlackBerry 10 was first officially unveiled in October at the BlackBerry developer’s conference in San Francisco, the result of over a year of tinkering to merge BlackBerry’s now eight-year old core operating system with the exciting mobile software technology of QNX, another Canadian company BlackBerry purchased for $200 million in April 2010.
Still, there can be little denying Tuesday’s court ruling marked a setback in RIM’s efforts to recast itself as a dynamic mobile device manufacturer.
Not only are customers gravitating toward rival platforms, including RIM’s once reliable enterprise customer base, but the Ontario-based company suffered an exasperating global service outage in October, which resulted in class-action lawsuits from infuriated customers.
Lately, it seemed as though RIM had been making a concerted effort to regain its stride, or at least break out of its funk, introducing BBX followed by a new enterprise mobile management system, BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, in late November.
But now one of those two new pillars of BlackBerry’s future has taken a hit. We’ve reached out to BlackBerry for more information on the name change and will update when we receive a response.
