by Playfuls Staff |
23rd February 2007
Did you really think Cisco would sue Apple because Steve Jobs presented iPhone, the new revolution in mobile phones, on the stage of MacWorld 2007, without previously owning the brand?
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Did anybody imagine that we would witness a brutal legal battle, with legal experts on both sides juridically dissecting who and why has or hasn’t the right to use the iPhone name?
If you had been hoping to see a ‘bloody’ confrontation between two giants of technology, then yesterday’s joint statement, blandly announcing that the two companies had agreed to share the iPhone name, undoubtedly convinced you that the fireworks are over.
As it is, the denouement was predictable from the moment Apple and Cisco announced, at the beginning of this month, that they had agreed to extend the period for discussions. After Feb. 14, instead of a conclusion, there were further extensions, this time for another week’s period.
Other than making the mild statement publicizing the result of their negotiations, the two companies unfortunately declined any additional comments. We probably won’t know very soon (perhaps never), what the terms of the agreement were.
Piecing together all that is known on this subject, we can nevertheless attempt to discern where the truth lies.
Cisco became the owner of the iPhone trademark in 2001, when it acquired Infogear, a company that had applied for this name as far back as 1995. Until the end of 2006, when Linksys, a company belonging to Cisco, launched its iPhone products (a series of VoIP phones), almost nobody had shown interest in the matter.
2006 was full of rumors about Apple’s mobile phone, in the works, and iPhone had started to be considered the name to be associated to the long-awaited product. Which is why Linksys’s launch came as a surprise and as a signal that Cisco would not renounce its trademark without a fight.
Immediately after Steve Jobs’ famous presentation, Cisco started procedures to sue Apple. The stake of the lawsuit? Everyone initially imagined it was money. What Cisco wanted from Apple wasn’t money though, but something much more important: interoperability.
From yesterday’s statement, you can read between the lines that Cisco has obtained what it wanted. “Both companies acknowledge the trademark ownership rights that have been granted, and each side will dismiss any pending actions regarding the trademark. In addition, Cisco and Apple will explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications. Other terms of the agreement are confidential.”
Which means that for Apple, the iPhone name proved more precious than its usual secrecy about products.
It remains to be seen what collaboration between the two companies will mean specifically and what shape it will take. Maybe the next MacWorld will tell us more.
As for the iPhone, you can be certain that this isn’t the last time before its launch that you hear about it.
