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Apple sued by Cisco over use of iPhone name

by Bob Crabtree on 11 January 2007, 15:35

Tags: iPhone, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qahoi

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The Cisco press release


Cisco Sues Apple for Trademark Infringement

Suit Filed to Protect Cisco's iPhone® Trademark

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 10, 2007 - Cisco® today announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Apple, Inc., seeking to prevent Apple from infringing upon and deliberately copying and using Cisco's registered iPhone trademark.

Cisco obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000 after completing the acquisition of Infogear, which previously owned the mark and sold iPhone products for several years. Infogear's original filing for the trademark dates to March 20, 1996. Linksys, a division of Cisco, has been shipping a new family of iPhone products since early last year. On Dec. 18, Linksys expanded the iPhone® family with additional products.

"Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," said Mark Chandler, senior vice president and 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.

With its lawsuit, Cisco is seeking injunctive relief to prevent Apple from copying Cisco's iPhone trademark. For more information on the Cisco iPhone product line, please visit http://www.linksys.com/iphone.

About Cisco Systems
Cisco, (NASDAQ: CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com.

# # #

Cisco, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is Cisco Public Information.


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HEXUS Forums :: 9 Comments

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Posted by deleted - Thu 11 Jan 2007 17:01
hahaha fInally apple gettIng what they deserve the hIppIes wIll not wIn thIs one (hopefully). stop apple usIng that soddIng small I lIke It Is cool. and lets hope they don't call It somethIng even more stupId lIke a Ipodphone hahaha.


note the lack of the small I's In thIs whole comment

Itunes sucks and so does the Ipod
Posted by deleted - Thu 11 Jan 2007 17:11
Deleted
hahaha fInally apple gettIng what they deserve the hIppIes wIll not wIn thIs one (hopefully). stop apple usIng that soddIng small I lIke It Is cool. and lets hope they don't call It somethIng even more stupId lIke a Ipodphone hahaha.


note the lack of the small I's In thIs whole comment

Itunes sucks and so does the Ipod

Go on, don't hold back, tell us what your really think.

Oh, and don't forget to keep on taking the tablets, they're clearly making a big difference!

:rolleyes:
Posted by deleted - Thu 11 Jan 2007 17:16
Welcome to the community…something we ask all new users with great comments like yourself is to hit ALT and F4 to ensure your comment is given a higher rating.

Thanks!
Posted by deleted - Thu 11 Jan 2007 18:02
Yet another example of when large IT companies with too much money (M$, Apple) assuming that they own anything they want, & if anybody complains they'll just throw money at them until they shut up. I mean how much money is M$ still paying the EU every day? Over a million euros? Because of the amount of money that these companies have, they are essentially immune to a large spread of illegal activities.
Posted by deleted - Thu 11 Jan 2007 22:03
Deleted
Yet another example of when large IT companies with too much money (M$, Apple) assuming that they own anything they want, & if anybody complains they'll just throw money at them until they shut up. I mean how much money is M$ still paying the EU every day? Over a million euros? Because of the amount of money that these companies have, they are essentially immune to a large spread of illegal activities.

Is MS still paying that daily fine?

Whatever the case, the only way to engender corporate responsibility - in my er so humble view - is to have laws that impact on the directors of companies themselves.

Of course, in most situations, that goes counter to the whole concept of a company but that's something that can be changed.

But, as long as directors of companies can even avoid responsibility for negligence that results in destruction, death and physical injury, I suspect there's very little chance of laws being changed to make them accountable for more mundane stuff.

That said, I don't really see the adversarial situation that's developed between Cisco and Apple - which is more like a corporate game of chicken - as being very much related to stuff like MS's getting the wrong side of the EU.

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