RIM (the Blackberry Maker) Settles Lawsuit

Here's some refreshing news... a BBC Technology article is carrying the news that Research In Motion (RIM) has settled a trademark lawsuit with Samsung.

It's about time that RIM was on the postive side of a trademark lawsuit. They've had a really bad run the last few years courtesy of help from the US Patent Office who sometimes seem like they would give an applicant a patent on fire, or the wheel, (patent troll) as long as no one else had thought to apply for one.

RIM (the Blackberry Maker) Settles Lawsuit

Research In Motion (RIM) has settled a trademark lawsuit with Samsung over its Blackberry handheld e-mail device.

The Canadian firm, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, said the settlement included "provisions for the protection of RIM's valuable trademarks".

RIM alleged that Samsung, a South Korean firm had misled consumers with its rival BlackJack smartphone, which is similar in design to RIM's Blackberry device.

On the left is the Research In Motion (RIM) Blackberry Pearl, while on the right is the disputed Samsung BlackJack device. The similarities are certainly obvious, but the name is the clincher in my books. ~FredPC

RIM said the settlement provided "reasonable measures to avoid confusion in the market place".

RIM filed the lawsuit in December at the US District Court for Central California after AT&T-owned Cingular Wireless introduced Samsung's BlackJack into the US market.

The device had previously been introduced into the UK market by Vodafone under the i600 brand name.

I checked the Research In Motion website, as well as CBC and several other Canadian news sites but did not find any more information on this BBC Technology article.