Once we hear the word iPhone, most of us will immediately think or relate to Apple’s iPhone – the recently announced sleek gadget which combines iPod and PDA-phone.
However, if you’re in-tuned with the gadget world, you should have read that Cisco’s division – Linksys, has earlier launched a new product family called iPhone – the new age Internet phone.
Ya, the word iPhone are the spelled the same by both Apple and Linksys; but neither is a substitution product for another.
So, if someone said “I’ve bought iPhone”, or “I’m using iPhone”, how sure are you that he/she is referring to Apple’s iPhone? ;)
Currently, at the moment I’m writing this post, Apple’s iPhone is ranked as the first result at Google search for keyword of “iPhone”.
Who Owns The Trademark?
Though Apple Inc. appears to have better marketing grasp on the name iPhone, but Cisco claims to have obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000, after completing the acquisition of Infogear, which previously owned the mark and sold iPhone products for several years.
Of course, a well-established giant corporate like Cisco will never permit infringement of its registered trademark. Moreover, Apple is undeniably having better advantage over the name iPhone than Cisco’s Linksys does.
If I were Cisco’s strategic management member, of course I won’t be happy with Apple’s new introduction as well. Just take Google search for example, Apple’s iPhone is ranked as the first result, while Linksys iPhone official website is not seen in top 10 results at all. What an irony!
Cisco has resorted to legal approach to resolve the iPhone trademark infringement issue, filing a law suit.
Will Apple Inc surrender the name iPhone? This remains an interesting track of tech world lawsuit for 2007.
The cloudy lawsuit aside, financial analyst Jonathan Hoopes believes that this trademark conflict will give Apple Inc an added advantage in publicity.