The saga of Research In Motion can only be described as a comedy of errors. In the latest installment, a federal judge has ordered the company to change the name of its new BBX operating system.

The preliminary injunction was issued because of a trademark dispute. Basis International Ltd., based in New Mexico, claimed to have had a trademark to BBX software for more than a quarter century. While the federal order applies only to a developers conference taking place this week in Singapore, RIM announced it would go ahead and change the name of BBX, which was first unveiled in October, to BlackBerry 10.

'Same Class of Consumers'

The company said in a statement that it doesn't typically comment on pending litigation, but that it has "unveiled a brand new name for its next generation mobile platform." BlackBerry 10 will now be "the official name of the next generation platform that will power future BlackBerry smartphones."

BlackBerry 10 smartphones will go on sale in 2012, and will be a critical component in the company's attempt to get back on track. Originally scheduled for the early part of next year, the release is now expected for the third or fourth quarter.

In its statement, Basis said that, "despite the fact that the two companies are not direct competitors, the parties' respective BBX products are highly related and target the same class of consumers, that is, business application software developers."

BBX was the name RIM gave to the QNX operating system, which it acquired when it bought the developer in 2010. Under pressure to update its operating system to compete with the fast-moving competition offered by Apple's iOS and Google's Android, it launched the QNX-based PlayBook tablet in the spring of this year.

But the PlayBook has not done well. Reportedly, only about 900,000 have been sold, and that's including heavy price discounts. For enterprise customers, RIM is even offering a free PlayBook for every two purchased. An updated version of PlayBook has been delayed to next year.

$485 Million Charge

Last week, RIM announced it would take a pretax charge of $485 million in its third quarter because of weak sales for PlayBook. Share price for RIM stock has dropped rapidly over the last eighteen months, and it has lowered its revenue and profit projections for this year.

The troubles keep coming for the Waterloo, Ontario-based company. It recently fired two employees who had been fined by a Canadian court for drunken behavior on a flight to China from Canada, which caused the flight to be turned around. A BlackBerry event in Indonesia this week led to an outbreak of violence, and is now under investigation by police in that country.

In the credibility department, RIM is also trying to restore trust following days of service interruptions in October for customers around the world. As "an expression of appreciation for their patience," the company has offered $100 of free premium apps, and one month of free technical support for enterprise customers.