Thursday, February 22,2007 @ 5:25pm
Cisco 'shafted' in Apple iPhone deal
[digg this] The resolution between Apple and Cisco over the disputed iPhone name yesterday appears to have gone Apple's way, according to independent tech analyst Rob Enderle. The two companies agreed to several legal extensions following the Cisco lawsuit over the iPhone trademark, and under that agreement both companies are free to use the iPhone trademark on their products throughout the world, but will dismiss any pending actions regarding the trademark. Cisco and Apple will explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, consumer, and enterprise communications, according to the publicized terms. "It looks like Cisco caved," Enderle said, adding that the pledge of interoperability talks "looks like the typical promise that Steve Jobs has no intention of keeping."
Other terms of the agreement are confidential, making it difficult to say for sure which company came out on top in the negotiations. Technology analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies Associates, however, said the deal currently looks like a "face-saving" agreement for Cisco, according to USA Today.
"It looks like Cisco got shafted," Kay said. "Maybe there's something in the [undisclosed] terms, but I don't see how they're getting the good end of the deal."