December 18 isn’t a typical day for new-product announcements, but Linksys announced a new VOIP phone today. The timing makes more sense when one realizes that Apple was about to announce an iPod-compatible cell phone in January, a product that was widely called “iPhone” in the press, but that Linksys owned the “iPhone” trademark since 1996. But without a product using the trademark, Linksys would not have been able to hold on to the name. By preempting the name, Linksys will either be able to extract rents from Apple on a now valuable trademark or force Apple to spend millions creating a new name for the product that doesn’t have the advantage of the brand extension from Apple’s “iMac” and “iPod.” (“The Working Guy” blog; Gizmodo blog (and followup ) (h/t WF)).
“iPhone” iPWNed?
December 18 isn’t a typical day for new-product announcements, but Linksys announced a new VOIP phone today. The timing makes more sense when one realizes that Apple was about to announce an iPod-compatible cell phone in January, a product that was widely called “iPhone” in the press, but that Linksys owned the “iPhone” trademark since […]
2 Comments
I’m doubting the veracity of this story. For one thing, you can’t TM anything without an actual use in commerce. The only registered iPhone TM listed at the USPTO is Reg#2293011 which was registered more than 10 years ago, whose first use was in 1997, published for opposition in 1998 and granted in ’99.
If it hasn’t been used, then the registered mark may be been abandoned (regardless of its registered status).
Second, Apple could very well have sought an intent to use application well before debuting the “iPhone.” Though, there are a couple of other more recent iphone applications that seem to be directly on point.
Finally, “iPhone” doesn’t seem to be a particularly strong brand name unless Apple can somehow make the argument it owns the rights to i[Anything].
I don’t think this is a branding crisis for Apple. If the line becomes
iPod
iPod Nano
iPod Shuffle
iPod Phone (iPod Connect – iPod Communicator)
They will probably be in good shape.