Rob Webb – RobWebb2K – Markets, Information, Technology, Law

This is pretty interesting. Cisco holds the tradmark “iPhone”, which they acquired when they bought Infogear a while back. There is actually already an iPhone and according to Cisco, Apple knew about it and repeatedly asked them if they could buy it. It will be extremely interesting to see what comes of this. Either Apple will try to say that “iPhone” is too much like “iPod”, etc. and Cisco is ripping them off by selling something that consumers could perceive to be an Apple product, or they will settle. Since “iPhone” isn’t an actual word in the english language, it is a strong trademark, “i” aside.

Edit: Apple told MarketWatch that they think the Cisco suit is “silly”. They contend that lots of companies have used the “iPhone” name for VOIP phones and that Apple is the first to use it for cell phones. It seems possible that the mark has been used widely enough that it is not protectable…it seems very unlikely that the distinction between a VOIP handheld phone and a cell phone are great enough such that consumers would not be confused between them and the USPTO would see a valid difference.