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Brazilians Can Now Buy an "iPhone" Loaded With Android
Andy Prough writes "If you happen to be in Brazil and have 599 reals jingling in your pocket ($304 US dollars or £196), you can buy an iPhone — that runs Android. Gradiente Electronica, which registered the 'iPhone' name in Brazil in 2000, has won the right to sell its iPhone Neo One, an Android phone running version 2.3, Gingerbread. Gradiente won the ruling from the Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), despite Apple's argument that Gradiente should lose the right to 'iPhone' because it had not used the name between 2008-2012. Apple retains the right to appeal the case, and Gradiente now has the right to sue Apple for exclusivity in Brazil. If Gradiente wins, the only iPhones sold in Brazil would have a picture of a cute green robot on the box cover."
When are the Americans going to invade Brazil?
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The company registered the trademark before Apple even thought about launching the iPhone, and produced the physical product to go with it. Good on them. If Apple really cared about the Brazilian market, they would have checked up on trademarks as part of due diligence before branding - it's not like Apple hasn't had bad experiences with trademark issues before.
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
Every now and then, an event occurs that should not [but does] fill one's heart with joy — mainly because of a universal form of justice being executed. This is one of those moments.
Use ISO 8601 dates [YYYY-MM-DD]
Why add the "Neo One" to the name? You just won a case for a very valuable name in the electronics industry, why go adding extra crap to to let people know that it isn't really an iPhone? If you have no intention of trying to "trick" people into thinking it is an iPhone, why not just sell the name to Apple for what ever you can get? Just go all in and claim it is an iPhone period. Or get some balls release 4 models really quick and claim it is the iPhone 5.
GENERATION 27: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
No, this ruling is just what the trademark is about. They were first to claim the name. So they get to use it. The amount of money an infringer on such trademark spends to get people to think they come up with the brand doesn't matter at all.
First, why not sell the name to Apple?
Because Apple most likely isn't willing to pay what Gradiente wants. Apple has a track record for engaging in long and useless "negotiations" in Brazil. Years ago they wanted the right to set the pace within the App Store (defining age ratings for apps), and the Brazilian government didn't want that. Here the government decides that kind of stuff and Apple thought it wasn't an option, so the end result was that the App Store in Brazil was really shitty for years. Only a few games (those made by Brazilian developers) were available, many other apps were missing. Which even led to people coming up with ways to register their accounts in other countries' stores just to have access to apps they couldn't get here.
Apple also exploits the market here. Brazilians have this retarded idea that more expensive = better. An unlocked iPhone 5 starts at U$U$650 in the US (today that would be ~R$1300 in Brazil). The Brazilian government imposes the highest and most nonsensical volume of taxes in the world, but Apple starts the iPhone 4S (iPhone 5 isn't even selling here officially yet) at R$2000. Carriers have been offering pre-orders for the iPhone 5 starting at around R$2600 with an expensive plan, or around R$3100 without one. It is believed that Apple itself will sell them in the R$2400-3000 range once it's officially released here.
With those things in mind, the result is very likely that Apple wouldn't settle for a value Gradiente wanted.
The second point is about the name.. They (Gradiente) very likely went with something slightly different for the case Apple eventually does decide on paying for the trademark. In that case, Gradiente's trouble with getting around "iPhone Neo One" should be slightly less complicated than simply "iPhone".
Which is why companies name products differently in markets where they were not able to secure the trademark. Sorry, the only travesty here is that Apple can continue to sell products in Brasil under the name iPhone.
The only thing newsworthy is the fact that he can use the name iPhone for what looks like is a completely mediocre china phone.
The irony of this post hurts my brain.
The law suit was against Apple iTunes.
There was never a problem until Apple decided to get into the music business.
I don't mean to correct you, wikipedia has a nice history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer the short version of it, as part of the original *settlement* they agreed not to get into to music...and then they did.
Actually, we just want iPhones like everybody else.
Actually we want Android phones...its why Apple only have 0.4% of the Brazilian Market. http://www.statista.com/statistics/245189/market-share-of-mobile-operating-systems-for-smartphone-sales-in-brazil/ compared to Androids 56%
they did not DEFEND the trademark for the first 5 years
Are you a Brazilian lawyer? If not, how do you know Brazilian trade mark law requires that?
The decision to deny Apple the use of the iPhone trade mark was made by the Brazilian federal agency for intellectual property, one must assume they know what they are doing.