Updated: The full lawsuit is here as a PDF. Cisco is alleging that Apple had attempted to get rights to the iPhone name several times, but after Cisco refused, the company created a front company to try to acquire the rights another way.
A day after Apple announced iPhone, Cisco is suing Apple over the usage of the term. It has filed a lawsuit in in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Apple asking them to stop using the term. Cisco said it obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000 after acquiring Infogear..the trademark filing was on March 20, 1996.
According to Cisco’s release: “Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco’s iPhone name,” said Mark Chandler, general counsel, Cisco. “There is no doubt that Apple’s new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission....today’s iPhone is not tomorrow’s iPhone. The potential for convergence of the home phone, cell phone, work phone and PC is limitless, which is why it is so important for us to protect our brand,” Chandler concluded.
Cisco launched a Linksys-branded iPhone a few weeks ago.
NYTimes: Cisco would have been willing to share the trademark, Chandler said, if Apple had agreed to its terms, which involved a commitment to interoperability on Apple’s part and an agreement to differentiate the two products in the market.
Apple responded late today: it said that several companies besides Cisco were currently using the iPhone brand name. A quick online search reveals that Comwave, Nuvio and Teledex are all using the brand in different ways. “We believe that Cisco’s U.S. trademark is tenuous at best....We are the first company to use the iPhone name for a cellphone and we’re confident we will prevail,” Apple said.