14 DAY TRIAL // Research In Motion (RIM) sued LG Electronics this week in an attempt to stop that company from using names that sound too much like their BlackBerry smartphones. Among the listed names, there are also some similar to Black Label, Strawberry and Black Cherry.
It's only natural to see RIM so concerned in the impact that it might have to leave other companies use product names highly similar to its own. As all other handset producers, it worked hard to get the BlackBerry name to ring a bell in everyone's mind. The company now makes a USD 3 billion income in annual revenues.
The current dispute with LG is a long one and started in March, 2006. At that time, LG filed an application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to use the Black Label brand. Over the next 10 months, LG filed additional applications for the Chocolate Black Label Series, Black Jewel, Black Jewelry, Blackruby, Blackpearl, and Pearlring names. All these were disputed by RIM, as they sounded very much like the renowned BlackBerry line of smartphones.
It now sounds like RIM is interested in keeping for itself all names that might lead to an association with their BlackBerry devices. "The aforesaid actions of LG have caused, and, unless enjoined, will continue to cause monetary damage and irreparable injury to RIM and the BlackBerry marks for which there is no adequate remedy at law", a RIM spokesman said. Still, none of the allegations have been proved in court up to this point and the result of the trial is uncertain.
RIM had to defend the name of its products with other companies aside from LG up to this point. Last December, the smartphone producer filed a suit in the same court against Samsung Electronics, claming that company's BlackJack wireless device was creating confusion between the two products. RIM and Samsung managed to eventually reach a settlement with this suit.