Cisco May Have Lost the Rights to ‘iPhone’ Trademark by Not Using It

See also this article from Reg Hardware regarding similar laws in Europe. The gist of it seems to be that you can’t just hold on to a trademark that you never use, and Cisco’s launch of an “iPhone” VOIP handset last month might be too little too late. (In their filing for an extension to hold onto the trademark, they needed to show a photograph of the trademark in use; they submitted a photo of an existing handset package with an “iPhone” sticker placed outside the shrinkwrap.)

(Thanks to DF reader Zac Grose.)

★ Friday, 12 January 2007