RIM forced to rename BBX platform BlackBerry 10 after losing legal battle

RIM has lost a legal battle over the proposed use of the BBX brand for the next version of the BlackBerry operating system, and confirmed that it will be renamed BlackBerry 10.

The company unveiled BBX in October but the use of the brand was challenged by US software company Basis International, which secured an injunction in a court in Albuquerque as it already uses the name BBX for its developer platform.

The court ruling stated that the "BBX mark is identical to the mark which RIM is allegedly using to present its BBX product" and could cause confusion for end users.

"Despite the fact the two companies are not direct competitors, the parties' respective BBX products are highly related and target the same class of consumers, that is, business application software developers," the report added.

"The alleged infringement is likely to cause customers and prospective customers to wrongly believe the software applications created using Basis International's development tools are only compatible with RIM's BBX operating system."

RIM confirmed in a statement that it had changed the name of the platform in light of the ruling.

"RIM doesn't typically comment on pending litigation, however, RIM has already unveiled a new brand name for its next-generation mobile platform," the firm said.

"RIM plans to use the BlackBerry 10 brand name for its next-generation mobile platform."

The ruling is another setback for RIM after having to write off $485m to shift a huge backlog of unsold PlayBook tablets and $50m for the network outage that hit customers in October.