Apple Gets Rights to use iPhone Name
Posted on 25 February 2007 by admin
Last month, when Apple, Inc. announced that it was going to release a smartphone called the "iPhone" this move was more than a bit controversial, as Apple didn’t own the rights to this name, Cisco Systems did, and Cisco was very quick to sue Apple for violating its trademark.
Now, however, the two companies have announced that they have resolved their dispute over the “iPhone” trademark.
Under the agreement, both companies are free to call their products an “iPhone” throughout the world, and each side will dismiss any pending legal actions regarding this trademark.
There can be little doubt that Apple paid quite a bit for the rights to use a name owned by Cisco, but the financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Still, this agreement frees Apple to move ahead with its much anticipated smartphone.
The only hurdle that remains is that the iPhone name is used and trademarked by Comwave which has been using the name since the mid-1990’s. It remains to be seen whether a similar agreement can be reached with the Toronto based company.
An Overview of the Apple iPhone
The iPhone is Apple’s upcoming combination smartphone and iPod.
This device will support the iTunes music service, and it will sport either 4 GB or 8 GB of built-in storage. It will support both music and video, which will be playable on its 3.5-inch, 320-by-480-pixel, 160 ppi display.
In addition, this will be a quad-band GSM/GPRS phone. It will include EDGE, but not UMTS/HSDPA. It will, however, have Wi-Fi b/g and Bluetooth 2.0.
The iPhone will run what Apple says is a version of OS X, the same operating system this company’s desktop and laptop computers run. It will be able to run some — but not all — specially selected OS X applications, including the Safari web browser.
It will have a touchscreen, but not include a stylus. Instead, users will be expected to control it with their fingertips.
This smartphone is expected to debut in June from Cingular for $500US (4 GB) or $600US (8 GB).
It is anticipated that Rogers will be providing the iPhone in Canada in late 2007, with a yet undetermined price.
