Apple, Cisco Settle iPhone Trademark Dispute

Category iPhone, Apple | Permalink | 22. February 2007

« The top 40 tech podcasts | Review: Lowe Individual 32 Selection »

Late on Wednesday, Cisco and Apple announced they had finally settled their iPhone brand usage dispute.

Under the new out-of-court agreement, which puts an end to Cisco’s threatened lawsuit that the company filed on Jan. 10, the companies will share the “iPhone” name on both of their products (Apple’s cellular and Cisco’s Linksys-branded VoIP phone) throughout the world, according to a joint statement released yesterday.

Furthermore, each side has agreed to dismiss any and all pending actions regarding the trademark. Over the past six weeks, Apple has twice requested legal extensions to answer Cisco’s initial trademark infringement suit. The latest extension, which Cisco agreed to, was filed last week. Apple’s deadline wasWednesday.

The carefully worded joint statement also says that both companies will “explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, consumer, and enterprise communications.” Other terms of the agreement are confidential, the two companies said.

Many have suspected that what Cisco really wanted was a piece of future iPhone profits in the form of interoperability. Last month, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said he expects to sell 10 million iPhones, which will sell for $499 and $599 respectively, in 2008.

Right after filing the trademark infringement suit, Cisco chief executive John Chambers said the company was not necessarily looking for money, but rather interoperability, or the ability for the iPhone to in some way work with a Cisco product.

While Cisco’s Linksys-branded VoIP phone has certainly garnered more attention that it normally would have received due to the high profile lawsuit, compatibility with Apple’s soon-to-be-released phone could be considerably more lucrative to Cisco than simply having Apple’s iPhone disappear (or be renamed) all together.

Apple’s iPhone will be equipped with Wi-Fi, and Cisco is the world’s largest maker of computer-networking equipment.

Apple still faces a potential iPhone trademark suit in Canada, where Comwave Telecom Inc. has used the iPhone brand since 2004 to sell Web-based phone service. Additionally, the Cupertino-based company may have to answer a similar lawsuit regarding a touch-screen patent from a UK-based company that develops and markets touch screen applications. pcmag.com

332 Read