RIM Denies BBX Infringement Claims, Doesn’t Know What All The Fuss Is About

After numerous public gaffes, RIM is banking on BBX, its newest platform, to help drag the company back into respectability. Unfortunately, the “BBX” name itself could be infringing on a New Mexican software maker’s trademarks.

Basis International makes a software language and database toolset and, according to the firm, has thousands of product licenses installed around the world. The prefix used by this software? BBx. RIM’s use of BBX, of course refers to its new QXN-powered OS, which the Ontario company will help advance their next-gen devices.

“Our patent attorney has sent them a cease and desist letter, invoking the U.S. trademark act …requesting a response by October 31,” Basis CEO Nico Spence told Reuters on Thursday. “Failing that, we’ll take the next logical legal step.”

However, as the Playbook maker told Reuters, “RIM has not yet received a copy of the legal complaint described in Basis International’s press release, but we do not believe the marks are confusing, particularly since our respective companies are in different lines of business.”

The whole “we don’t know what you’re talking about” shtick RIM is pulling could be legal manoeuvring as much as they could have just gotten that process server from Pineapple Express. But, for a company that’s already botched product rollouts, faces plummeting profit estimates, and is currently facing numerous other lawsuits from the Three-Day Outage, this could be another costly embarrasment.

[Reuters – image courtesy The AP]


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