MONTREAL – Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) is being forced to change the name of its new BBX smartphone operating system after the company lost a trademark ruling in the United States.
The name change marks another setback for the Waterloo, Ont.-based tech company which has been hyping the new system for months.
A U.S. court ruled that the name BBX has already been trademarked by a software company in New Mexico.
RIM said on its Twitter account that “BlackBerry 10” will be the official name of the next generation platform that will power future BlackBerry smartphones.
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The new operating system is considered by analysts to be crucial to the company’s future success because it will be a direct response to the growing list of competitors like the iPhone and Android phones that have been luring away former BlackBerry users.
RIM lost an early round in a trademark dispute on Tuesday when a U.S. federal court judge in Albuquerque, N.M. banned RIM from using the BBX name at a conference being held in Singapore this week.
In the decision, the judge noted that software company Basis International Ltd. had registered and used the trademark for 26 years.
RIM is expected to release a new generation of BlackBerrys early in 2012 that run on the new operating system.
The past two weeks have seen a variety of troubles for RIM, with the head of its operations in Indonesia possibly facing charges related to a stampede at a recent promotional sale where dozens of consumers were injured.
RIM also fired two executives at its Canadian operations after their drunken rowdiness forced the diversion of an Air Canada flight.
– with files from The Associated Press
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