Are you confused about the title? If yes, this is the article you MUST read. If you're not, then I believe you're an ardent Technology Follower. If you aren't both, you must be a Laywer who loves law-suits (kidding).
Have a look at these photos :
Yes, Linksys iPhone is a series of internet appliances from Cisco. The first of the Cisco iPhone was launched in 1998 by a company named InfoGear Technologies which combined "a Regular phone and a web-terminal. So the 'i' in the iPhone obviously stands for the internet. Cisco acquired InfoGear and thus owned the iPhone trademark.
But from 2001 to 2006, no new product was launched under that name. On December 18, 2006, Cisco rebranded its Linksys VoIP-based phones under the name, shortly before Apple released an iPhone of its own.
What Followed?
- Shortly after the announcement of iPhone on 7th Jan 2007 Cisco initially announced that Apple was in negotiations with the usage of iPhone brand-name for their new cool Phone.
- The next day Cisco announced that they were filing a lawsuit on Apple for infringement of Trademark.
- On Feb 20, 2007, both the companies settled their dispute. Both the companies agreed to use the 'iPhone' brand in exchange for exploring "Interoperability" between Cisco and Apple Technologies.
Had Cisco Lost rights on iPhone trademark by 2007?
According to Ziff Davis's blog, Apple had lost the rights to iPhone trademark in 2006 itself.
To quote the blog :
"The Cisco iPhone trademark was registered 11/16/1999 (Reg. No. 2293011). In order to keep a trademark registration active, you have to file a Declaration of Use on or before the sixth anniversary of the registration date, in which you state, under penalty of perjury, that you have been using the trademark continuously during that period. The sixth anniversary would have been 11/16/2005. "
Not-So-Fair Game from Apple ?
Cisco's official blog clearly tells the openness of Cisco on how badly the trademark had been infringed. Apple clearly valued their Intellectual Properties (they announced a list of patents filed for iPhone in MacWorld 2007). Would Apple allow someone to blatantly infringe on their rights like the multi-touch display? How would Apple react if someone launched a internet podcast device by the name iPod (internet + podcast) ?
