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Cisco Sues Apple Over iPhone Trademark

Posted by samzenpus on from the that-didn't-take-long dept.

lucabrasi999 writes "It appears that Apple may be running out of items that they can prefix with the letter "i". Cisco is suing Apple over trademark infringement. Cisco claims to own the rights to the "iPhone" trademark since they purchased Infogear in 2000. Infogear filed for the rights to the trademark in 1996."

6 of 556 comments (clear)

  1. Trademark info by traindirector · · Score: 5, Informative

    The trademark information on the US Patent and Trademark Office's site

    I've been curious about this one since yesterday. Apple doesn't seem to have any legal right to the name, but could they really call it anything else?

    1. Re:Trademark info by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Informative
      I really wonder why this "final contract" was so unappealing to apple and they just decided to announce the phone anyways.

      Two points:

      1. Negotiations are probably still ongoing. Cisco is releasing this announcement in hopes of putting pressure on Apple to settle for their terms.

      2. Apple may be hoping to wrestle the trademark away if necessary. Marks are really only valid if you use them. (Insert long list of "gotchas" here.) Given that "iPhone" (whatever it was) appears to be a dead product, Cisco's claim to the mark may not be as strong as Apple's. Alternatively, they may feel they can convince a judge that the two products are in different markets and thus the "Apple iPhone" is a different brand than the "Infogear iPhone". Either way, I don't think Cisco's position is as strong as they're making it out to be.
      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  2. WOW! by HaeMaker · · Score: 5, Informative

    I googled the lawyer who filed this for Cisco/linksys, scroll down for her list of clients!

    1. Re:WOW! by edflyerssn007 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Can we say Conflict of Interest?

      In the words of Trump, "You're Fired"

      -Ed

      --
      So you see what had happened was....
  3. Cisco just following the letter of the law? by oz_paulb · · Score: 5, Informative

    I believe that a trademark holder must vigorously defend their trademark from infringement, otherwise they can lose it.

    It's still possible that Apple/Cisco are in final talks over details of the trademark "iPhone" (both "playing nice"/with the assumption that a final deal will be reached), but the Cisco lawyers are just doing what they are supposed to do - even though they have no intention of suing Apple over it.

    Just a thought.

  4. More info by Udo+Schmitz · · Score: 5, Informative
    It does seem a little suspicious

    Commentary from Mark Chandler, Cisco's SVP and General Counsel, on Apple's infringement of Cisco's iPhone trademark:

    "Cisco owns the iPhone trademark. We have since 2000, when we bought a company called Infogear Technology, which had developed a product that combined web access and telephone. Infogear's registrations for the mark date to 1996, before iMacs and iPods were even glimmers in Apple's eye. We shipped and/or supported that iPhone product for years. We have been shipping new, updated iPhone products since last spring, and had a formal launch late last year. Apple knows this; they approached us about the iPhone trademark as far back as 2001, and have approached us several times over the past year."