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CALIFORNIA
JANUARY 16, 2007
Cisco has announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District
Court for the Northern District of California against Apple, seeking to prevent
Apple from infringing upon and deliberately copying and using Cisco's registered
iPhone trademark.
Cisco obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000 after completing the acquisition
of Infogear, which previously owned the mark and sold iPhone products for
several years. Infogear's original filing for the trademark dates to March 20,
1996. Linksys, a division of Cisco, has been shipping a new family of iPhone
products since early last year. On Dec. 18, Linksys expanded the iPhone family
with additional products.
"Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple
repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," said Mark
Chandler, Sr VP and General Counsel, Cisco. "There is no doubt that Apple's
new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without
our permission.
"Today's iPhone is not tomorrow's iPhone. The potential for convergence
of the home phone, cell phone, work phone and PC is limitless, which is why it
is so important for us to protect our brand," Chandler concluded.
With its lawsuit, Cisco is seeking injunctive relief to prevent Apple from
copying Cisco's iPhone trademark. Page(s) 1
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