According to recent reports it appears that RIM is headed to trial against rival company Good Technology. Research In Motion Ltd. said on Thursday a California court had ordered one of its four lawsuits against Good Technology to proceed toward trial.

This is just the latest development in a long legal battle between RIM and Good. Good has launched a product that competes with RIM's popular BlackBerry e-mail device, and RIM is obviously going to court over the similarities.

At stake is RIM's hold on the mobile e-mail market, where BlackBerry has carved out a lucrative niche.

The legal battle started in May 2002 when Good Technology filed a suit that attempted to overturn RIM's patents. RIM then filed a suit alleging Good Technology's products infringe on four of RIM's patents. Then RIM filed other suits over unfair competition, the Blackberry interface, and civil conspiracy.

These lawsuits don't appear to be hurting RIM's business. Their stock is up and they recently signed deals to make their Blackberry technology work on Microsoft and Symbian platforms.