RIM BBX name out before it's begun. Welcome, BlackBerry 10!

Key to BlackBerry maker RIM's plan for regaining its footing in the mobile space will be the success of its newest OS, BBX, which has already run into legal troubles (CP: RIM BBX OS will marry BlackBerry and QNX and run on everything). A day before its BlackBerry DevCon Asia event in Singapore Dec. 7 and 8, RIM was barred by a U.S. court from using the BBX name, which was trademarked in 2006 by the New Mexico-based software company Basis International.

RIM hoped to continue using the BBX name at the Singapore event, according to PC World, arguing that it wouldn't affect Basis' U.S. business, but was denied.

"BlackBerry 10 is the official name of the next generation platform that will power future BlackBerry smartphones!" the BlackBerryDev handle Tweeted Dec. 6.
In a Tweet Dec.

The naming debacle is the latest setback for the once leading company that has faltered under pressure from the growing popularity of Android smartphones and the Apple iPhone.

In June, RIM saw falling profits and market shares (CP: BlackBerry fallout: Does RIM really have a plan?), as well as a call, by one investor, for co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis to stop sharing the position (Unfiltered: RIM investor calls for more "ethical" leadership arrangement).

A multi-day, multi-continent system outage in October — which RIM worked around the clock to diagnose and fix — not only lost it a good deal of customer affection, but will cost it in the neighborhood of $50 million, it announced earlier this month.

Likewise, slow sales of its PlayBook tablet strained both its revenues and its customer relations: Deep discounts to the PlayBook have forced RIM to take a pre-tax hit of $485 million, it said in a statement, while poor customer service at Best Buy stores, which were overwhelmed by orders for the discounted tablets, didn't do RIM any favors (CP: Kindle Fire sales roar, while Best Buy burns RIM).

In an official statement on the BBX name change, RIM said that it plans to use the BlackBerry 10 brand name for its next generation mobile platform, which will "bring the best of the BlackBerry and QNX platforms to customers and partners."

It added, "The BlackBerry 10 name reflects the significance of the new platform and will leverage the global strength of the BlackBerry brand while also aligning perfectly with RIM's device branding."