Cisco(R) (NASDAQ:CSCO) today announced that it has filed a lawsuit
in the United States District Court for the Northern District of
California against Apple, Inc., 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(R) 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, senior vice president 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. For more information on
the Cisco iPhone product line, please visit www.linksys.com/iphone.
About Cisco Systems
Cisco, (NASDAQ:CSCO), is the worldwide leader in networking that
transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate.
Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For
ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com.
Cisco, Cisco Systems, and the Cisco Systems logo are registered
trademarks or trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc. and/or its affiliates
in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks
mentioned in this document are the property of their respective
owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership
relationship between Cisco and any other company. This document is
Cisco Public Information.