The current legal jousting began soon after Bertarelli's Alinghi syndicate won the Cup for the second time, in July 2007.
America's Cup holders Alinghi, of Switzerland, will race off against the winner of the Louis Vuitton Challenger Series in Spain.
The German team, sponsored by internet provider United Internet, was the 10th syndicate accepted to challenge Swiss holders Alinghi in 2007.
Bertarelli's defending Alinghi syndicate went on to beat Emirates Team New Zealand in a closely fought match off Valencia, Spain, in July.
When the dial-up broke, New Zealand gybed right in front of Alinghi.
BBC: SPORT | Other Sport... | Sailing | Alinghi on brink of retaining Cup
The Louis Vuitton Cup will decide which of the 11 challengers will sail against America's Cup holders Alinghi in the finals from 23 June-4 July.
BBC: SPORT | Other Sport... | Sailing | Kiwis make challenger semi-finals
Alinghi built a 16-second lead at the final mark and despite NZL 92 pushing hard behind, the Swiss side maintained their advantage to the line.
BBC: SPORT | Other Sport... | Sailing | Alinghi on brink of retaining Cup
Alinghi announced this week it had signed another Team New Zealand member, navigator Mike Drummond, who was also a key figure in New Zealand's design team.
Alinghi is negotiating to renew its sponsorship agreements, which expire in December, including the one with UBS, estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars.
The venue and timing of the next America's Cup will depend on who wins this year's event between holders Team New Zealand and either Alinghi or Oracle.
Bertarelli assigned Bonnefous to study a complete overhaul of the America's Cup last year--long before anybody knew Team Alinghi (the name is meaningless) would emerge as the winner.
Team Alinghi officials declined to comment further for this story.
His BMW Oracle team, which he founded a decade ago, beat rival billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli and his Alinghi team, by a margin of 5 minutes and 25 seconds.
"There have been enough changes to produce massive, positive results, " says Russell Coutts, the New Zealand skipper whom Bertarelli recruited to win the last America's Cup for his Team Alinghi.
American syndicate BMW Oracle Racing , bankrolled by software billionaire Larry Ellison, is the so-called "challenger of record", the team that officially laid down the challenge to Alinghi for the next Cup.
The court fight "is so Larry Ellison can race his decamillion-dollar trimaran in a Deed of Gift match that will have absolutely no participation by anybody, " says Barry Ostrager, the Simpson Thatcher lawyer representing Alinghi.
Team New Zealand won the trophy from America in 1995 and defended it five years later, but last year lost 5-0 to Swiss team Alinghi, who had poached several leading Kiwis including then-skipper Russell Coutts.
Team New Zealand opted to go around the left buoy and Alinghi went around the right, but the defending champions made the most of better wind shifts and tacked aggressively to squeeze back in front.
BBC: SPORT | Other Sport... | Sailing | Alinghi on brink of retaining Cup
At the heart of the fight are new rules Bertarelli has established for the next Cup, including naming all the officials and requiring competitors to build a 90-foot boat whose design specifications are known only to Team Alinghi.
"New Zealand is a wonderful place, but it's 4 million people and it's 12 hours away from any major market, " says Nicholas Masson, the former head of global marketing and sales at RJ Reynolds International who is marketing Team Alinghi to sponsors.
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