Research in Motion, the BlackBerry supplier of smartphones and other wireless devices, has renamed its next-generation mobile platform. A federal judge yesterday granted a New Mexico-based software company a temporary restraining order that prohibited RIM from using the BBX name at a conference this week in Asia.
"As announced at DevCon Asia, RIM plans to use the 'BlackBerry 10' brand name for its next generation mobile platform, which will bring the best of the BlackBerry and QNX platforms to customers and partners," RIM said in a statement. "The BlackBerry 10 name reflects the significance of the new platform and will leverage the global strength of the BlackBerry brand while also aligning perfectly with RIM's device branding."
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada-based RIM had intended to use the BBX name for its new mobile platform for smartphones and tablets, but a trademark infringement action filed in late October put a monkey wrench into those plans.
The federal court in Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday temporarily barred RIM from using BBX after finding that software company BASIS International Ltd. satisfied a four-part test, including establishing that it would suffer irreparable harm if the injunction was denied. BASIS International has claimed that the BlackBerry maker was hurting BASIS' association with a brand that it built over many years and that RIM's use of the BBX name would cause confusion and hurt its reputation.
"The alleged infringement is likely to cause customers and prospective customers to wrongly believe that the software applications created using BASIS's development tools are only compatible with RIM's BBX operating system," the court wrote in a 14-page order. "This assumption could impair and destroy BASIS's reputation for providing software development tools for cross-platform development. Money damages cannot replace the lost reputation."
Before deciding whether BASIS International had satisfied its burden of proof to obtain a temporary injunction, the court wrestled with whether it even had jurisdiction to take action since RIM is based in Canada and the conference is in Singapore. The court ultimately held it had authority to act under federal trademark law after finding that "RIM's conduct will have a significant effect on U.S. commerce sufficient to apply the Lanham Act."
