Here's the brief - There's a telecom company by the name "iFone" in Mexico. And Apple sued them unnecessarily...and lost the case.
"The iFone trademark was filed in Mexico in 2003, a full four years before Apple filed to trademark the iPhone. Despite the rather obvious priority issue, Apple decided to sue iFone in 2009 in an attempt to invalidate the company’s name for being too similar to the iPhone. The predictable response was a countersuit by iFone, and the court battles have been swinging in iFone’s favor ever since."
I think Apple deserves this and perhaps, even more.
Great quote from the lobby of the San Jose superior court lobby, "Lawsuits are like handguns, when you pull the trigger someone is going to get hurt but its not clear who." I don't know if the lawyer was trying to dissuade a client or just kibitzing with another lawyer but it was a great comment.
What am I missing about that quote? If you're wielding a handgun, it's pretty clear who will get hurt when you pull the trigger, barring rare events like a misfire or a ricochet.
Couldn't agree more. Apple tried to throw its weight around when it clearly had no business suing. Apple's working on the principle it is too big to fail.
Err, what?
They are salaried.
It's a "win" for iFone's outside counsel, and a blow for Apple's. It's barely a win at all, most likely.
Yes, they get paid, but companies move legal business around all the time depending on wins/losses and quality of advice (and how that advice fared in court).
I'm always a bit boggled at why folks think stuff like this is a "win" for lawyers, just because some lawyer makes money. Dealing with these kinds of cases with clients like Apple is like running 2 startups at once. You are working 14+ hour days for a year, dealing with tons of emergencies, researching 100 page briefs as fast as you can, etc.
This is not the win. The real "win" is apple paying you 1k/hr hour to do relatively simple stuff because you won this case. If you lose, well, it's "what have you done for me lately". Hell, if you lose, Apple would probably demand an hourly rate reduction if you want to keep their business.
This article says a lot about Apple's current disposition:
"It’s not actually clear what Apple was thinking this time around – the iFone trademark was filed in Mexico in 2003, a full four years before Apple filed to trademark the iPhone. Despite the rather obvious priority issue, Apple decided to sue iFone in 2009 in an attempt to invalidate the company’s name for being too similar to the iPhone. The predictable response was a countersuit by iFone, and the court battles have been swinging in iFone’s favor ever since."
I'm glad to see them get knocked down a few pegs on stuff like this. Apple could use a modicum of humility.
They most likely sued iFone on the basis of the "i" prefix branding. iMac was released in 1998, iPod and iTunes in 2001.
They sued in 2009, but it was only in 2010 that an Australian tribunal ruled that the "i" prefix could not be an Apple trademark. And that only applies in Australia.
Now, did iFone choose their name based on the positive connotations associated with Apple? I doubt it. And looking at their website, it's about as far removed from Apple as possible.
"Now, did iFone choose their name based on the positive connotations associated with Apple? I doubt it."
I see no reason to doubt it. There are exceptions but "i" prefix anything generally is trying to cash in on the association. Whether Apple deserves to be the only company that can use "i" prefix is another matter (I would say no).
This is simply another case where Apple will end up writing a big check. They did it for iPad in China, iPhone from Cisco, the swiss clock thing a couple months ago, etc. Again the difference is Apple users aren't crying about how broken the world is because they have to write a check for walking all over some other companies IP.
Seems to be much better description about the case than the original article.
Excerpts from the article:
- Apple already owns two iPhone trademarks in Mexico in Class 9 and Class 28
- in 2009, Apple's lawyers decided iFone's Mexican Class 38 mark wasn't being actively used, and they filed a lawsuit to try and get it canceled so they could register their own pending Class 38 mark on "iPhone."
- iFone obviously disagreed and convinced the Mexican courts that they were still using the mark in commerce
Class 9 = computers, software, cameras, and mobile phone
class 28 = electronic game devices
Class 38 = communication services
I'm wondering if they could work the phonetic angle since the "ph" orthography doesn't exist in spanish. Instead they should conduct the entire case calling it the "eep-hoan-ey". In ads and campaigns they could go out of their way to never pronounce iPhone (then again, I'm not sure trademarks extend to the phonetic pronunciation, so maybe the pronunciation used in deciding the case matters. I think trademarks only cover orthography).
Maybe being on offense allowed them to set the pace of the trial more and possibly be in a better position for a settlement in the case. I'd be great to hear from a lawyer if this speculation is correct.
Readit News
"The iFone trademark was filed in Mexico in 2003, a full four years before Apple filed to trademark the iPhone. Despite the rather obvious priority issue, Apple decided to sue iFone in 2009 in an attempt to invalidate the company’s name for being too similar to the iPhone. The predictable response was a countersuit by iFone, and the court battles have been swinging in iFone’s favor ever since."
I think Apple deserves this and perhaps, even more.
I'm always a bit boggled at why folks think stuff like this is a "win" for lawyers, just because some lawyer makes money. Dealing with these kinds of cases with clients like Apple is like running 2 startups at once. You are working 14+ hour days for a year, dealing with tons of emergencies, researching 100 page briefs as fast as you can, etc.
This is not the win. The real "win" is apple paying you 1k/hr hour to do relatively simple stuff because you won this case. If you lose, well, it's "what have you done for me lately". Hell, if you lose, Apple would probably demand an hourly rate reduction if you want to keep their business.
"It’s not actually clear what Apple was thinking this time around – the iFone trademark was filed in Mexico in 2003, a full four years before Apple filed to trademark the iPhone. Despite the rather obvious priority issue, Apple decided to sue iFone in 2009 in an attempt to invalidate the company’s name for being too similar to the iPhone. The predictable response was a countersuit by iFone, and the court battles have been swinging in iFone’s favor ever since."
I'm glad to see them get knocked down a few pegs on stuff like this. Apple could use a modicum of humility.
They sued in 2009, but it was only in 2010 that an Australian tribunal ruled that the "i" prefix could not be an Apple trademark. And that only applies in Australia.
Now, did iFone choose their name based on the positive connotations associated with Apple? I doubt it. And looking at their website, it's about as far removed from Apple as possible.
I see no reason to doubt it. There are exceptions but "i" prefix anything generally is trying to cash in on the association. Whether Apple deserves to be the only company that can use "i" prefix is another matter (I would say no).
This is simply another case where Apple will end up writing a big check. They did it for iPad in China, iPhone from Cisco, the swiss clock thing a couple months ago, etc. Again the difference is Apple users aren't crying about how broken the world is because they have to write a check for walking all over some other companies IP.
Today, it would be another matter. Today, a new product named iSomething is most likely trying to piggy back on Apple's coolness factor.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/2/3591380/iphone-ifone-and-a...
Excerpts from the article:
- Apple already owns two iPhone trademarks in Mexico in Class 9 and Class 28
- in 2009, Apple's lawyers decided iFone's Mexican Class 38 mark wasn't being actively used, and they filed a lawsuit to try and get it canceled so they could register their own pending Class 38 mark on "iPhone."
- iFone obviously disagreed and convinced the Mexican courts that they were still using the mark in commerce
It'll probably eventually be called the "Apple Phone"; but people will still call it iPhone.