Cisco Systems sued Apple Inc. in federal court Wednesday, saying the computer maker's new iPhone violates its trademark.
The lawsuit, filed in San Francisco federal court, came just a day after Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the Apple iPhone in dramatic fashion at a trade show in San Francisco.
But even while Jobs was trumpeting the product during his keynote address to Apple faithful, the matter of the product's naming had not been resolved behind the scenes between two of the biggest names in Silicon Valley.
I figured they'd play nice, I figured Apple, that is, Steve Jobs, wouldn't be so stupid. Sure, he got away with this crap when Apple (Computers) fought Apple (Records), but Cisco is worth (let's check the article) something like $174 billion, "the most richly valued company in Silicon Valley[.]"
It is also worth noting that they are suing for injunctive relief, a court order commanding Apple to top using the name "iPhone". They can easily ask for that because they have a product on the market, using their registered mark. Apple is 5+ months away from delivering product. Cisco's lawyers can easily argue that Apple can, at this point, easily change the product name. Order granted!
One analyst thinks that Cisco has better things to do with their time and money then sue over a product name. Personally I think Apple has better things to do with their time and money then to deliberately try and still someone else's registered, used trademark.
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