RIM loses bid to put legal clamp on rival

A California judge has thrown out a request by Research In Motion for an injunction against rival Good Technology, in the latest installment of a legal battle between the two companies that may be headed toward trial.

In a scheduled hearing Wednesday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Jonathan H. Cannon denied RIM's request for a preliminary injunction against Good. The BlackBerry maker had asked the court to prevent its competitor from using allegedly misappropriated customer information, as part of a lawsuit charging Good and one of its vice presidents with misappropriation of trade secrets and other actions.

RIM said in a statement that the court accepted Good's demonstration that it is no longer using the customer information in question. The denial marks the second time a California court has refused a petition from RIM for injunctive relief from its rival.

"We are pleased with today's ruling," Good CEO Danny Shader said in a statement. "Our customers continue to vote for innovation over litigation. The number of companies choosing GoodLink has doubled in the last six months."

At the center of the lawsuit is Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Good's GoodLink wireless corporate messaging system, released in May 2002, which runs on RIM hardware and offers wireless messaging capabilities similar to RIM's BlackBerry products. Good said Thursday that more than 750 companies have signed up for the software and service.

The hearing was part of the most recent of four lawsuits filed by RIM against its rival. In June, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company sued Good for patent infringement over the GoodLink product and followed up with additional claims in July and September, alleging copyright and trademark infringement, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract and other actions.

The hearing Wednesday also considered a petition from RIM for an injunction to stop Good from selling the software under dispute. However, the court ordered that the matter proceed toward trial and set a status conference for June 3, according to the RIM.

RIM has been litigious in regard to its technology. In November, RIM settled a suit against handheld maker Handspring over RIM's keyboard patent. In February of last year, RIM settled an earlier suit against pager company Glenayre Technologies.

Both RIM and Good have been working to make their software compatible with operating systems designed for other devices, including the Palm OS, Symbian and Microsoft's Pocket PC 2002.

RIM reported increased revenue of $87.5 million in its fiscal fourth-quarter financial results, posted Thursday after the close of trading.