Cisco sues Apple over iPhone trademark

Cisco has to do this no matter what. They are legally required to protect its trademarks and if they dont, they risk losing them. Their is a deal in place, but they have to do this first.

If the name "iPhone" is already in use on unremarkable phones, seems strange that Apple would have used it. "ApplePhone" would work -- just like "AppleTV" instead of "iTV." BTW, will it be Appleworld next year?

I'm a big enough Apple fan, but... What is up with all of this nonsense? Cicso has the trademark. Get over it Apple.

Apple could pay for use of the trademark. But, it makes much more sense to just call it an "iPod Phone". It doesn't cost any money, Apple doesn't come off as a bully trying to get its way, and the name iPod has all the brand recognition anyway.

There are tons of non-Apple "i" products on the market. Starting with the letter "i" in no way makes an immediate association with Apple. But everybody knows what an iPod is and who makes it. And everybody will know that an "iPod phone" is an iPod that has phone capabilities. Just like everybody immediately knew that an iPod mini was a small iPod, and an iPod Nano was an even smaller iPod. No one had to explain it to users, and no one thinks they are bad names just because they have two words.

Apple has even proved the point by naming the iTV the "appleTV" If "i" has such all-powerful branding, then why didn't they stick with iTV (yes I know there is an eyeTV, but that's not iTV, is it)?

Someone please tell me how just calling it "iPod Phone" is not the logical thing to do.

Just call the darn thing "Apple Phone" and be done with it. Who cares what its called, as long as it launches !

This will have no impact on the iPhone deployment. If they end up changing the name, so be it. If they end up paying Cisco a pile of cash for the name, who cares. Apple didn't let the threat of the Apple Corps lawsuit from slowing down their iTunes Music Store plans, and this Cisco thing won't make any difference either.

Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if Apple didn't plan to lose the iPhone name anyway. The press was expecting an "iPhone" annoucement. Apple gave it to them without the distraction of a new name. A week or a month from now if Apple announces the iPhone will be called the iPod phone or whatever that will just result in another round of free publicity for a product that is half a year away. It's all good.

One freaking day and someone's getting sued already? I'm not proud of what we've become. Too quick to blame others.

I think they are saving iTV for the rumored widescreen they are developing.

like any of these companies ever would have named ANY of their products with a lowercase i as the first letter in the product if it hadn't been for Apple. Of course people initially think of Apple when there is a iAnything, that's what makes it of value to Apple to begin with.

Was Apple stupid to not get this trademark licensed in their hands before announcing it? Yes, or course. But to not understand where they are coming from and to claim to know the mac and Apple is contradictory.

Apple should have patented the letter "i". I think Apple should just have named it the Newton, seriously, it's far enough removed from the original Newton, it does after all compete directly with smart phones, which started out as PDAs, of which the Newton was the first, it's circular, makes sense, and people would get it. In fact, I think it was probably suggest at Apple, that person is now in Iraq after pitching it to Steve :D

... name me one product that used the "iXxxx" marketing strategy BEFORE the first iMac was introduced. After Apple introduced the iMac and it became so popular, companies everywhere were trying to cash in on the "iCraze". IBM's crappy eMachines tried it with the "eOne"; there was even an "iPac" car or something to that effect. Therefore, there would never have been the term "iPhone" to patent if Apple hadn't been so clever in their marketing strategy.

Cisco's need to protect their "trademark" notwithstanding, all they're trying to do is rain on Apple's parade, steal some of their thunder and shake them down for some money- they're no different than SanDisk or Creative in this regard. It just goes to show: you can tell how great an idea or product is by the volume of the detractors that show up immediately afterward. I think the biggest thing Cisco's concerned over is that Apple's iPhone will be such a big hit that Cisco's own iPhone will fall to the ground with a dull thud... and no one will even notice.