RIM hits back in BBM trademark spat

RIM has responded to claims another company owns the BBM trademark by stating that it believes it is not in competition with the firm.

BBM Canada had previously said that it was 'amazed' RIM had tried to use the acronym, but RIM has launched a defence of itself, according to Engadget.

"Since its launch in July 2005, BlackBerry Messenger has become a tremendously popular social networking service.

"In 2010, RIM started to formally adopt the BBM acronym, which had, at that point, already been organically coined and widely used by BlackBerry Messenger customers as a natural abbreviation of the BlackBerry Messenger name.

"The services associated with RIM's BBM offering clearly do not overlap with BBM Canada's services and the two marks are therefore eligible to co-exist under Canadian trademark law. The two companies are in different industries and have never been competitors in any area."

Not been denied

RIM has also launched a staunch defence of its attempts to trademark the BBM acronym for its own purposes and wants costs for the efforts in the law suit.

"We believe that BBM Canada is attempting to obtain trademark protection for the BBM acronym that is well beyond the narrow range of the services it provides and well beyond the scope of rights afforded by Canadian trademark law.

"RIM has therefore asked the Court to dismiss the application and award costs to RIM. Further, for clarity, RIM's application to register BBM as a trademark with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) is pending and we are confident that a registration will eventually issue.

"The inference by BBM Canada that CIPO has refused RIM's BBM trademark application is quite frankly very misleading."