BBX, the operating system that Research In Motion depended upon in reviving its floundering BlackBerry franchise, has run into difficulty even earlier the company could install the system in its smartphone line.
A New Mexico firm asserts the “BBX” name is secluded by trademarks it holds and is threatening tin taking legal action against RIM unless it discontinues using the moniker.
The firm, Abuquerque-based Basis International, said it had previously trademarked the “BBx” name for its own software language, database and toolset.
According to Basis Chief Executive Nico Spence , their patent attorney has sent them a cease and desist letter, which invokes the U.S. trademark act … requesting a reply by October 31.
Though court case may never materialize, the threat may establish yet awkwardness for a company that has suffered its fair share of them lately. The latest was a three-day global outage of BlackBerry assistance, following a series of profit warnings and botched product squashes.
Ahead of that, its management has been reprimanded for what its critics utter is an arrogant and insular style.
Previously this week, RIM publicized the new BBX platform for its next-generation devices at a developer’s conference in San Francisco. The company didn’t provide any schedule about the release of the device.
RIM has not yet received a copy of the legal objection described in Basis International’s press release. However, they don’t are that confusing, particularly since respective companies are in different lines of business, as stated by the Waterloo, Ontario-based company.
Basis, founded in 1985, carries their operation on five continents but is concentrated mainly on the U.S. and Latin American markets.
The firm said it has thousands of product licenses settled globally with the “BBx” prefix, running on Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems, among others.
RIM’s BBX would replace the obsolete software, which currently powers the BlackBerry with a package built around the QNX system, by now the engine behind the PlayBook.
RIM intends to reverse an increasing consumer preference for faster and more perceptive devices by Apple and devices powered by Google’s Android.
The San Francisco conference was the first civic stage for the Canadian company ever since last week’s global interruption of BlackBerry service, adding to a series of setbacks for RIM over the past year.
Law firms in the United States and Canada currently exploring possible consumer proceedings against RIM for the BlackBerry outages, which crippled email and messaging for tens of millions of users all over the world.