Apple's `iPhone' name still unsettled |
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Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:50
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SAN FRANCISCO - Even as Steve Jobs held court onstage in front of thousands of Apple devotees trumpeting the company's new multimedia mobile phone, the actual name of the project was far from settled behind the scenes.The chief executive of Apple Computer Inc. introduced the so-called 'iPhone' on Tuesday during his keynote address at the annual Macworld Conference and Expo in San Francisco, but the company's lawyers have yet to finalize an agreement to license the name from networking gear maker Cisco Systems Inc.Cisco has owned the trademark on the name 'iPhone' since 2000, when it acquired the company that originally registered the name, InfoGear Technology Corp.And three weeks ago, Cisco's Linksys division put the trademark to use, releasing an Internet-enabled phone called 'iPhone' that uses the increasingly popular Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP.Industry observers had predicted Apple would be forced to choose a less-obvious name for its iPod-cellular phone combination.But Cisco said Tuesday that Apple had repeatedly asked for permission over the past several years to use the iPhone trademark, and that the company had presented Apple lawyers with the final terms of an agreement the night before Macworld. Cisco declined to elaborate on the deal.'It is our belief that with their announcement today, Apple intends to agree to the final documents and public statement that were distributed to them last night, and that addressed a few remaining items,' Cisco said in a statement.Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president for worldwide marketing, would not comment on whether the company had agreed or would agree with Cisco on terms of use of the name.'There are a number of companies that have used `iPhone,' but this is the first use in a cellular phone,' he said. 'We feel fine using it as a cell phone name.'Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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