iPhone Owned! By Who?

Written by Hambaba

Thursday, 11 January 2007

So who owns iPhone? In terms of what people are familiar with Apple, by all means does. But the name is a registered trademark held by Cisco Systems Inc.. Problem? Yes, especially since Cisco filed a 24 page trademark infringement lawsuit against Apple after the big announcement at MacWorld 2007. What is going on here? Let me clear things up.

Cisco owned the iPhone trademark since 2000, which was obtained through acquiring InfoGear Technology Corp. The original trademark filling for iPhone was made on March 20, 1996 by InfoGear Technology Corp. Cisco has not used the trademark for iPhone until last year by releasing a VoIP product with the name. Under the US Trademark law, a trademark must be renewed every five years and Cisco filed a renewal for the trademark only 12 days before a six-month grace period in which it could have expired.

For about two years Cisco and Apple have been negotiating the terms of usage for the iPhone rights until the very night before the announcement of iPhone. Cisco assumed they agreed to the final version of the contract but never received a signed agreement from Apple.

Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman, said today that they will meet Cisco in court and "We think the Cisco lawsuit is silly,". Most lawyers are assuming Apple might argue either that both products are completely different (Cisco's VoIP and Apple's All in one entertainment gadget) or that Cisco abandoned the trademark years ago but has not been using it until recently, and further, filing a late renewal.

So who owns iPhone? Let us know, leave a comment.

Source: Legal experts to Steve Jobs: iPhone your lawyers

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