Cisco Systems Inc. Sued Apple because of "iPhone" » Science, Technology and Internet [Jan 12, 2007]
Cisco Systems, which is one of the leaders in the field of telecommunications, sued Apple for the use of name "iPhone". Cisco sued Apple the next day after media reports stated that Apple was licensing iPhone from the networking company. "IPhone" is the name that Cisco Systems bought, back in 2000, from InfoGear Technology. The networking giant did not achieve any agreement with Apple, which is why it wants to see Apple in court.
Cisco Systems introduced its iPhone in December, thus showing its new VoIP phone, designed for home use. Apple supposed to come up with another name before it launched its "iPhone", but the company did not make this step. The vice president of Cisco Systems prepared a special statement regarding the use of "iPhone" name. The statement suggested that licensing was already in development, but something went wrong.
The general council of Cisco Systems, Mark Chandler, mentioned that, because Apple asked permission several times to use the term "iPhone", Cisco entered in into negotiations with Apple. He also outlined the fact that, though Apple's gadget might be exiting, the company itself should not use the already existed trademark without permission from Cisco Systems Inc.
In conclusion Chandler said that the "iPhone" of today in not the same as the one of tomorrow. Cisco will protect its brand since there is no limit to the convergence of home, mobile and work phones. The database from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office showed that the name "iPhone" does not represent Apple's trademarked.
However, there are some companies that already use "iPhone" brand name. These are: Teledex LLC, Xtreme Mobile LLC, Ocean Telecom Sevices LLC and InfoGear Technology Corp., which is today owned by Cisco. Because Apple's representatives didn't mention anything about "iPhone" trademark, the company lets the matter slip while the network giant, Cisco, is not going to do the same.
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The  only made its appearance as a prototype and there have been controversies aroused.

The dispute has come up between the manufacturer of the iPhone (which was presented on Wednesday for the first time) — Apple Inc. — and a leader in network and communication systems, based in  — . The company claims to possess the trademark for iPhone, and moreover, that it sells devices under the same brand through one of its divisions.

This became the reason for Cisco to file a lawsuit against Apple Inc. so that the latter would stop selling the device.

Cisco states that it has received the trademark in 2000, when the company overtook Infogear Technology Corp., which took place in 1996.

The Vice President and general counsel of the company, Mark Chandler, explained that there was no doubt about the excitement of the new device from Apple, but they should not use a trademark, which belongs to Cisco.

The  is a device which allows users to make phone calls over the voice over Internet protocol ().