With the lawsuit filed by Basis against Research In Motion for its planned use of the BBX name for its upcoming smartphone platform, RIM might be in trouble because the names are similar. Basis is a developer of application development tools named BBx. The company claims RIM's plans to use BBX causes Basis and RIM consumers to become confused.

RIM responded, saying the names are not the same. There have been other recent trademark lawsuits against smartphone manufacturers.

ICloud Communications Sues Apple

 Usually, Apple does the suing, but in this case, Apple is being sued for its use of the term "iCloud" for its "cloud computing telecommunications and data services." ICloud Communications states that because it formed in 2005 and has since used the trademark "iCloud" on its marketing and advertising campaigns, in its company promotional materials and as the logo on its website and other papers that Apple's use of the name is a willful infringement and confusing to consumers.

 ICloud also states Apple has been sued numerous times for the same willful violation of trademark by IMG, Cisco and TerryToon. While iCloud Communications did not register its trademark with the U.S. Trademark and Patent Office, it could still win the lawsuit if it can prove it used the name before Apple. The case is ongoing, and iCloud is seeking monetary damages in addition to removing Apple from the iCloud mark permanently.

ChaCha Sues HTC for ChaCha Smartphone

 When HTC released the so-called "Facebook phones" named the ChaCha and Salsa, ChaCha sued, claiming infringement. ChaCha is a specific question-and-answer-based search engine that filed for its trademark in 2007 and was granted the trademark in 2008. In this case, the names are the same, and HTC still sells the phone as the "Chacha" in the U.S. But HTC Spain responded by changing the ChaCha name to "ChaChaCha," according to an HTC Spain Twitter status update from March. The case is still pending and neither party is commenting.

Xoom Sues Motorola

 Xoom filed a lawsuit against Motorola Mobility for the smartphone maker's use of the XOOM name for its tablet PC. Xoom is a money transfer company and has nothing to do with tablet PCs or other mobile communications devices. Xoom filed for its trademark in January and was issued the mark. It is interesting to note that Motorola Mobility originally filed for a trademark for the Xoom name, but that application was rejected for being too similar to the Zoom.com trademark, according to Bloomberg. This lawsuit is still pending.

(Source: news.yahoo.com)