Cisco calls in the lawyers over Apple's iPhone

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On Tuesday, Apple announced that it was changing its name and dropping the word computer from its title, but a second name change announcement may be on the cards following news that Cisco is suing the company for infringing its iPhone trademark.

The loud fanfare accompanying Apple's unveiling of its three-in-one phone marvel is likely to be muted by news that the networking giant has filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, citing it did so to "prevent Apple from infringing upon and deliberately copying and using Cisco's registered iPhone trademark."

Chief executive Steve Jobs talked in great detail about how its 'iPhone' was going to revolutionise the mobile phone market during his keynote speech at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

"iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years' ahead of any other mobile phone," he said.

"We are all born with the ultimate pointing device - our fingers - and iPhone uses them to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse...The iPod changed everything in 2001. We're going to do it again with the iPhone in 2007."

But before Apple's new brainchild can even begin to make the kind of impact Jobs wants - the aim is to ship 10 million of the devices by 2008 - the company may have to re-brand.

Cisco, whose Linksys division ships its iPhone, became the parent of the trademark in 2000 when it bought Infogear, the company which filed the original trademark request back in March 1996.

"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 at 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."

Some media reports have suggested that Apple and Cisco have engaged in talks regarding usage of the trademark and that the lawsuit has been filed as a result of the former not completing the necessary paperwork.

Apple is no stranger to trademark protection issues itself.

Last year, the company became territorial about others using the word 'pod' in their product naming conventions by issuing cease and desist letters waning of potential trademark infringement.

Manufacturer Mach5Products was one of the companies accused of bordering on infringement with its infrared data collection system 'Profit Pod.'

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