Comments on: Cisco Sues Apple over iPhone

By: paul

paul — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:38:15 +0000

From what I’ve read, the law seems to actually be on the side of Cisco here. Apparently, the name ‘iPhone’ was originally trademarked in 1996 by a company called Infogear… long before Apple had iAnything. In 2000, Cisco bought Infogear, and along with it the iPhone trademark.

I hate to say this, but it kind of seems like Apple just said, hey, we want that name, and we don’t care you legitimately owns it. Imagine what Apple would do if someone else came out with a product called, iPod.

I’m curious to see how this shakes out.

By: Jason Deehr

Jason Deehr — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 12:04:26 +0000

I am kind of pissed that they patented “iPhone”. They delibretly took the same lower case “i” and uppercase other letters to follow the Apple like naming scheme. It seemed like it was only done and put out right befor the real “iPhone” to somehow create a still so someone would see Cisco’s offering. I think it’s a shame. So if I was to patent “iMouse”, or “iMacaroni and Cheese”, would I not get sued by Apple into oblivion?

just a thought…

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 08:30:52 +0000

Personally I think it’s all about money. Sounds to me like they are trying to use Apple’s success to improve their sales. I’m really not impressed.

By: John Earnhardt

John Earnhardt — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 03:14:11 +0000

UPDATE FROM CISCO – Intellectual property is the lifeblood of Silicon Valley and we all have to protect our property. The iPhone trademark is owned by Cisco, as noted in your story. We (Cisco) had hoped to reach an agreement to share our trademark with Apple, yet they decided to use the name without our agreement, so we, unfortunately, are having to go to court to stop them from using the name. This is not about money. We still hope we can reach an agreement, but when your neighbor steals your property, you have no recourse other than to call the cops and file a complaint. Full Cisco statement at: http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2007/corp_011007.html

You can also read Mark Chandler’s blog entry (he is SVP and General Counsel) to give you a bit of the tick-tock and flavor here: http://blogs.cisco.com/news/2007/01/update_on_ciscos_iphone_tradem.html
He states, in part, “this is not a suit against Appleâ€™s innovation, their modern design, or their cool phone. It is not a suit about money or royalties. This is a suit about trademark infringement.”