BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion is suing Samsung in a US District Court in California for the use of the name BlackJack for its latest mobile.

The BlackJack was released this month with mobile network Cingular, and directly competes with the BlackBerry Pearl smartphone.

It goes by the name SGH-i607 in other markets.

RIM says that “BlackJack” is too similar to “BlackBerry” and “constitutes false designation of origin, unfair competition, and trademark dilution”. It is asking the court to stop Samsung from selling the BlackJack and is seeking damages.

“Samsung is misleading the public into falsely believing that Samsung's goods and services are connected with RIM's business”, it says in the filing.

Cingular also carries RIM's BlackBerry Pearl.

The BlackJack is a superslim smartphone, based on Windows Mobile 5, and features a QWERTY keyboard, a 1.3MP camera, and Bluetooth 2.0, but no Wi-Fi. It's not currently available in the UK.