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Cisco and Apple Resume iPhone Trademark Talks

Posted on: Friday, 2 February 2007, 06:00 CST

Cisco Systems Inc and Apple Inc have returned to the negotiating table over Apple's use of the "iPhone" trademark for its smartphone-video iPod device, and Apple has been given more time to respond to Cisco's lawsuit.

The companies said, in a short joint statement, they had "agreed to extend the time for Apple to respond to the lawsuit to allow for discussions between the companies with the aim of reaching agreement on trademark rights and interoperability."

Talks between the companies had stalled following Cisco's lawsuit filed on January 10, a day after Apple announced its smartphone device, which isn't slated to hit the shelves in the US until the summer.

San Jose, California-based Cisco claims Apple's forthcoming iPhone-branded device would infringe a trademark Cisco had registered in the US in 1999. Cisco is seeking unspecified damages and an injunction to bar Cupertino, California-based Apple from using the iPhone name.

Cisco said in its complaint that Apple had already infringed on its trademark by announcing the brand at a lavish launch event at its Macworld conference in San Francisco.

Apple first approached Cisco about using the iPhone brand back in 2001 and continued to make overtures until very recently, according to Cisco's complaint. "Each time, Apple was told that Cisco was not interested in ceding the mark to Apple," said Cisco's lawsuit.

Cisco claimed it sent a legal document to Apple to sign the day before Apple's launch event, in a bid to settle the dispute. But it appears that negotiations broke down shortly thereafter.

Source: Datamonitor

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