Cisco Sues Apple on the iPhone Trademark
Here is a story from Ars Technica entitled Cisco sues Apple over iPhone trademark. Yup. Cisco sues Apple on the iPhone trademark.
Cisco has sued Apple over the iPhone name, a day after media reports suggested that Apple was licensing the name from the networking giant. Cisco acquired the trademark “iPhone” in 2000 from InfoGear Technology (which itself filed in 1996), and was apparently unable to reach an agreement with Apple. It now appears as though Cisco is going to force Apple’s hand.
Cisco launched its own “iPhone” in mid December, unveiling a VoIP phone for the home. In the wake of the launch, everyone assumed that when Apple’s much-anticipated “iPhone” arrived, it would arrive with a different name. Yet it didn’t, and we were mighty confused.
After the release of the iPhone by Cisco/Linksys, people have been waiting in anticipation for this to happen. Apple should definitely want that trademark. It took so long that people thought that Cisco and Apple inked a deal on it. Apparently not. So now, more legal wrangling and hopefully a settlement.
IMHO, the iPhone isn’t exactly a mobile phone in mind book. It looks like a large PDA phone or a small tablet PC with mobile capabilities. So, maybe Apple can brand it iTablet or iPDA or just iMobile? Not too sexy I guess.
