I had the same problem with the same set up. Eventually I thought, maybe the problem is with the handheld - reset the Palm and tried again......it worked fine and has done more or less since. Hope this helps!
I had the same problem which was resolved by deleting the Office folder and then searching on 'office' with Sherlock. Around a dozen files turned up which I deleted, did a reinstall and, presto, was at last prompted for name and reg code.
I didn't do any experimentation to identify the...
Soellman is right, we've tried to run multiple copies of Office v.X on our lan using the same serial number and it lets you know pdq that more than one instance of that serial number is not allowed.