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Apple Loses Trademark Claim Against iFone in Mexico

Posted by Soulskill on from the still-working-on-the-i-time-machine dept.

sfcrazy writes "Apple is having trouble in Mexico right before the holiday season. The company has lost rights to the name iPhone in the country, as it was already owned by a Mexican telecom company called iFone (Google translation of Spanish original). iFone registered its trademark in 2003, four years before Apple iPhone was launched. In 2009, Apple filed a complaint with the Mexican Industrial Property Institute demanding that iFone stop using is name because it could confuse users. That claim was since denied, and iFone is looking to turn the tables."

7 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. Didn't Do The Research by TheSpoom · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple's lawyers either didn't do the research here, or are arrogant to the point of being harmful to their interests.

    --
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    1. Re:Didn't Do The Research by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Given (or especially since) it's Apple, why not both?

    2. Re:Didn't Do The Research by bhagwad · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Breathtakingly arrogant. I wonder what possible reasons they could have given to the judge to demand that a company which had previously registered a trademark should take it down because they graced the market by introducing a phone with a similar name.

      I'm not surprise that Apple lost. I'm stunned that they litigated in the first place. Looks like the tables turned on them since they have now lost the rights to "iPhone" entirely. I'm betting that this was not what they expected.

    3. Re:Didn't Do The Research by poetmatt · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not the first or the last time such a situation has happened for them. Woz was about the only thing at apple preventing shit like this from happening regularly. What astounds me is people seem to forget apple, microsoft, cisco and oracle have always been this way. It's funny when people act like these companies change from time to time - they don't.

  2. Wow, just wow by mcgrew · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Microsoft sure is ballsy... wait, this is Apple?

    I guess what various folks said here are correct, Apple IS the new Microsoft! Suing someone over trademark when thy were using the mark first? That's more MS-like than MS!

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    1. Re:Wow, just wow by tuppe666 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Microsoft sure is ballsy... wait, this is Apple?

      I guess what various folks said here are correct, Apple IS the new Microsoft! Suing someone over trademark when thy were using the mark first? That's more MS-like than MS!

      No Microsoft is more bully; bribe; lie; outlast, and still do! Look at how they act in the mobile arena, the new Microsoft is..well Microsoft, Its why they are incredibly weak against the New Giants Apple and Google these tactics are simply ineffective.

      Apple being Apple which is simply a reflection of its CEO like Microsoft is a reflection of its; Companies are like dogs it seems. It is "Narcissistic Entitlement Syndrome" and the result is as always a long prolonged lawsuit over anything Steve Jobs Pissed on, ignoring any real sense of Justice. It has been pretty successful from a legal point of view...not so much from a practical...they haven't destroyed Android, where they have lost all their market share, sown from 23.1% to 14.9% as Android hits 75%.

      Seriously its nothing new ask "Apple Records" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer or hell look at the whole wikipedia entry on its literation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc._litigation.

  3. Due diligence by girlinatrainingbra · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well, if Apple didn't do its due diligence when applying for trademark status for "iPhone", that is its own fault. And obviously, they did not even do a cursory review of trademark status for their due diligence because Cisco already had an iPhone trademark, which they sued Apple for. Now they're in a situation that's even stronger than Cisco's (Cisco was not actively using "iPhone" even though it already had the trademark on it). iFone appears to have been actively and continuously used in trade in Mexico prior to Apple using "iPhone". Court battles can be long, so who knows.