RIM Sued By BBM Canada, Over Use of BBM Trademark

Monday, December 26th, 2011 at 8:38 am , filed under Tech News by Kimberly

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"RIM Sued By BBM Canada" RIM has been sued with another trademark-related lawsuit. BBM (Bureau of Broadcast Management) Canada has sued RIM over alleged trademark infringement over the maker’s use of the term BBM, which RIM has chosen as a nickname for its BlackBerry Messenger service. Since 1944, BBM Canada has been in existence and has been using BBM in its logo for more than 60 years.

In the past, RIM has applied for the trademark to the name BBM; however it was allegedly told by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office that the term was not register- able. BBM Canada President and CEO, Jim MacLeod says, we want our name back. I find it kind of amazing that this wouldn’t have been thought regarding before they decided to use the name. The same thing goes for BBX.

RIM has reacted to the suit, stating that the BBM term had already been organically coined and extensively used by fans of the service when RIM start to take on the acronym last year. Furthermore, RIM says that the messaging service and the services offered by BBM Canada evidently do not overlap and can co-exist lawfully under Canadian trademark law.

RIM has asked the court to dismiss BBM Canada’s claims. Finally, RIM asserts that its application to the CIPO for the trademark to the name BBM is yet pending, and the firm is sure that its registration will be approved.

This latest lawsuit surely isn’t serving RIM to end 2011 on a high note, while some could argue that the company brought the case upon itself by in fact adopting the BBM acronym in its advertising. A hearing in the suit is listed for January 11th 2012.

By Kimberly

Tags: BBM Canada claims, BBM trademark, BBX, BlackBerry 10 OS, BlackBerry Messenger service, Bureau of Broadcast Management, RIM BBM Trademark, RIM BBM Trademark lawsuit, RIM lawsuits, RIM trademark infringement