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Cisco Systems is suing Apple for trademark infringement in a US federal court, for using the iPhone name.
Cisco, which has owned the trademark since 2000, said it thought Apple would agree to a final document and public statement regarding the trademark.
"Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," said Mark Chandler, Cisco senior vice-president and general counsel, in a statement.
Apples part is that theirs is a mobile phone whereas others are VOIP phones; but they mught not be in the same product category, and Cisco do legally own the trademark, and if its anything like the UK patent office system, there in the wrong!
Quote:
Cisco, which supplies networks, said it would seek to stop Apple from "infringing upon and deliberately copying and using" the trademark.
Jon Noh, a spokesperson for Cisco told the BBC: "This issue is not about money, and it's not about the phone itself; it is about Cisco's obligation to protect its trademark in the face of Apple using it without our permission."
Lets just see how it works; maybe Apple will have to bail out big style to keep the name, or even, but unlikely they will take it off
The two companies have known they had a problem for years -- Cisco has used the "iPhone" name since it acquired a company called Infogear in 2000, and Cisco filed a lawsuit the day after Apple unveiled its iPhone at MacWorld.
While Cisco thinks it's got a trademark, the press and pundits have been speculating for years that Apple's success with the iPod would lead to an "iPhone" product from the company, so the name has been in use to describe something not sold by Cisco.
Generally trademark suits revolve around whether confusion over the name has done irreparable harm to the business or reputation of the aggrieved party. You'd think that would be Cisco in this case, but perhaps not.
Consider that reasonable man test. If you went up to 10 people on the street and asked them, "Who makes the iPhone?" I'll bet you 10 out of 10 would say without a moment's hesitation, "Apple."
Apple has built a great deal of brand value for "i-anything" with the iPod, and it could make a powerful argument in court that Cisco's use of "iPhone" was an attempt to create confusion in the marketplace and damage its business.
My prediction: Apple will get "iPhone" without too much muss or fuss, and Cisco will get a face-saving concession, something it will claim it wanted all along, like the right to make Linksys WiFi routers that work in some theoretically special way with iPhones.
Cisco doesn't have anything to gain by standing in Apple's way, and it could have quite a bit to lose. Cisco's Linksys VoIP phones are going to sell by the thousands, whether they're called "iPhones" or not. Apple's multifunction phones are going to sell by the gazillions, whether they're called "iPhones" or not. If Cisco can actually hitch Linksys equipment to the Apple juggernaut, even a "Works with iPhone" sticker on the box will be worth more to Cisco's bottom line than denying Apple the "iPhone" trademark.
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