Bangalore: The Canadian based manufactures of BlackBerry Smart phones, Research In Motion (RIM) face legal challenge over the trademark use of its instant messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM).

RIM faces trademark challenge from BBM Canada, a company which provides broadcast measurement and consumer behavior data. The CEO of BBM Canada, Jim MacLeod wants RIM to stop advertising its services under the trademark BBM, but would also consider changing his company’s name at a price.

The instant messenger allows BlackBerry users to send and receive text and video files and also allow them to know when they are delivered and read. RIM has recently launched its BBM Music song sharing service and promoted the third party apps which boast of having 50 million active customers. RIM has been promoting all this under the trademark BBM.

But according to MacLeod, RIM is using a trademark which they don’t even own. BBM Canada was established in 1944 which currently has 650 employs and an annual revenue of around $ 50 million compared to RIM’s  last quarter sales of above $5 billion. MacLord added, “We have to be practical because RIM operates worldwide and we don’t, but we are not prepared to just walk away from the name.”

 BBM Canada launched its legal action late last year following the denial letter from RIM saying that there could not possibly be any confusion between two names as the services from both companies don’t overlap with one another. RIM is not ready to lose the name BBM and is determined not to pay anything to BBM Canada saying it is attempting to obtain trademark protection for BBM acronym which is well beyond the narrow range of services that BBM Canada provides.

However, Industry Canada has already denied RIM’s request in 2009 to register the trademark BBM, saying that the name was already in use. Earlier this month, RIM was forced to change the name of its operating system from ‘BBX’ to ‘BlackBerry 10’ following the trademark battle with BASIS International, a US based company.