iPhone Battle: Apple, Cisco Extend Talks on "iPhone" Deal

Apple, Cisco Extend Talks on iPhone Deal
Companies push back a deadline in the their trademark fight in hopes of achieving a settlement.

In order to keep working toward a settlement over the iPhone name, Apple and Cisco Systems have pushed back a deadline in their legal battle.

Cisco sued Apple last month in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California over its use of the iPhone name, which Cisco uses for some of its own products.

The companies have now agreed to give Apple more time to respond to Cisco's suit so the two parties can keep talking in hopes of reaching an agreement on trademark use and interoperability, they said in a brief joint statement today.

Cisco's Position
Cisco's Linksys consumer products division sells VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) phones under the iPhone name, which the company said it acquired in its purchase of Infogear in 2000. Apple introduced its iPhone to great fanfare at the Macworld conference last month, and Cisco later said the companies had been negotiating use of the name before the show but never reached a deal.

According to published reports, Cisco would have been willing to license the iPhone name in exchange for Apple making the handset interoperate smoothly with Cisco's products. Linksys is the biggest seller of consumer Wi-Fi access points and is expanding its home product line into the voice and entertainment realms. Apple's iPhone is equipped with Wi-Fi and includes audio, photo and video player software.

News Courtesy: PCWORLD

I hope apple gets the name..

I hope the iphone comes@ affordable price in India.

I pity Cisco! They are pretty much ready to agree on any terms to secure interoperability between the two products. I hope Apple doesn't agree - but still gets the name somehow. Actually, I'm sure they will.

i hope apple get the name. see, ipod and iphone sound almost the same.

They could easily have called it the iFone though. What is the problem with that name?

Why did Apple take such a horrible decision of using "iPhone" tag, especially when Cisco already gave a warning to them before fanfare at the Macworld conference?
I can guess it. Apple wants publicity for its latest and expensive product. And that's the best alternative to gain more publicity by provoking giant Cisco to start trademark war with Apple!
This lawsuit brought by Cisco against Apple will do exactly the same what Apple wants. This news will remain on the front pages of all technology news section like this one.
Pity on Apple's strategy.

hey kiran ... y are u starting it again ?

dont u know tht on thinkdigit any decision by apple is correct and cant be wrong ....

mAV3 said:
hey kiran ... y are u starting it again ?
dont u know tht on thinkdigit any decision by apple is correct and cant be wrong ....

Let me be clear dude. I am not raising any issue here, neither have made any lame statement. I can't keep quiet in a forum. What's wrong if my statement is not deceptive? Everyone has rights here. I am not goin to kill my thoughts against anybody ought here.

kiran well in tht case this thread will also meet the same fate .... iv also been here for some time and thought the same way u do but eventually realised tht there's no point

... the rest is ur wish

mAV3 said:
kiran well in tht case this thread will also meet the same fate .... iv also been here for some time and thought the same way u do but eventually realised tht there's no point ... the rest is ur wish

Okay dude!

It is a smart business move, whether you like it or not. And anyway, Cisco have been sitting on that name and never used it with any of their products. Only recently, in December 2006, did they release products that carried the iPhone moniker. It is US trademark law that if you do not use a trademark, you lose the right to own it. To circumvent that law, they Photoshoped the name 'iPhone' onto some of their much older products to provide as evidence that they've actively defended theit trademark in the past too.
BTW, there have been many similar products from various companies in the past that carried the 'iPhone' moniker and Cisco never attempted to put a stop to it. Now that they realised that Apple is interested in the name, they saw it as a good business opportunity and jumped onto the bandwagon.
Apple is surely going to win this deal. And stop being so dramatic about all things Apple already. If you guys are so apprehensive of my pro-Apple posts, don't bother posting a reply to them. However, if you look at it objectively, we can have friendly discussions.

K

Why does Apple want that 'i' in the name? The name iPod sounds nice, but iPhone sounds wierd. Why couldn't they think of a better name? Also now, will they put 'i' before every name, just because iPod was a roaring success?

if ekta kapoor can have k ... if rakesh roshan can have k then y not steve jobs have i .....

The first product from the Apple camp to use the 'i' prefix was the iMac. The 'i' in it basically meant 'Internet', but it also meant Individual, Instruct, Inform and Inspire.
Since then, there have been many hardware and software products from Apple that have used the 'i' prefix. There has been iSight, iPod, iPod Hi-Fi, iChat AV, iCal, iLife (iPhoto, iWeb, iMovie HD, iDVD), iTunes, iWork, iDisk and now the iPhone. As you can see, most of the five words apply to most of these products, but some of the names have been downright ludicrous.
But I think all the five words are as right for the iPhone as they were for the iMac. Plus, I don't know whether you know about this or not, but there has been tremendous speculation over the past few years about a phone from Apple and most, if not all, people had christened it the 'iPhone'. Therefore, using the name gives a physical entity to an already famous and highly public name. It can only be a positive thing.
And now, because Cisco own the name and have sued Apple, there is already a lot of free publicity going on for the iPhone. And if Apple win the case, who gets the benefit of all this hype? No prizes for guessing, Apple.
I think it was pure genius to use this name.

K

Well marketing strategies aside, i think the name iPhone sounds too clumsy and unimaginative for such a smart and stylish product. The name iPod was good. Good enough to suit atleast ten generations of the product. But the name iPhone doesn't do justice to the current generation phone, leave alone its future avatars.

man "i" has sheer class... if it names its fone something else it might lose atleast .001% of its fan following.... wich it wouldnt want to

K

i think apple i-phone is a big hit in the mobile phone market anyway

imav3 .... ipathiks ... iarayaush ... imail2andy .... iraaabo .... ibill gates :mrgreen:

khin007 said:
i think apple i-phone is a big hit in the mobile phone market anyway

Of course.

khin007 said:
i think apple i-phone is a big hit in the mobile phone market anyway

as of now i wud say it has shaken the market ... hit or miss will be decided by its sales figures .... the fan fare of launch and the media attention after launch sud not be confused with a product being successful .... not saying tht its not a good product .... but again giving it the crown now wud be wrong

i i captain.....

@khin let it come to the indian market first.... then ll c whether its a hit or no...

mAV3 said:
imav3 .... ipathiks ... iarayaush ... imail2andy .... iraaabo .... ibill gates

Everybody stand in line to take a poop

. Apple has reinvented the pot
presenting the ipot :
*www.worth1000.com/entries/294500/294776DIkc_w.jpg

*www.worth1000.com/entries/294500/294608bGiF_w.jpg

Similar innovations
*www.worth1000.com/entries/294000/294384QVxu_w.jpg

*www.worth1000.com/entries/294500/294595wcEB_w.jpg

This one is my favourite
*www.worth1000.com/entries/294500/294602PVXt_w.jpg

This is what the giant Cisco says...

Cisco owns the iPhone trademark. We have since 2000, when we bought a company called Infogear Technology, which had developed a product that combined web access and telephone. Infogear’s registrations for the mark date to 1996, before iMacs and iPods were even glimmers in Apple’s eye. We shipped and/or supported that iPhone product for years. We have been shipping new, updated iPhone products since last spring, and had a formal launch late last year. Apple knows this; they approached us about the iPhone trademark as far back as 2001, and have approached us several times over the past year.

For the last few weeks, we have been in serious discussions with Apple over how the two companies could work together and share the iPhone trademark. We genuinely believed that we were going to be able to reach an agreement and Apple’s communications with us suggested they supported that goal. We negotiated in good faith with every intention to reach a reasonable agreement with Apple by which we would share the iPhone brand.

So, I was surprised and disappointed when Apple decided to go ahead and announce their new product with our trademarked name without reaching an agreement. It was essentially the equivalent of “we’re too busy.” Despite being very close to an agreement, we had no substantive communication from Apple after 8pm Monday, including after their launch, when we made clear we expected closure. What were the issues at the table that kept us from an agreement? Was it money? No. Was it a royalty on every Apple phone? No. Was it an exchange for Cisco products or services? No.

Fundamentally we wanted an open approach. We hoped our products could interoperate in the future. In our view, the network provides the basis to make this happen—it provides the foundation of innovation that allows converged devices to deliver the services that consumers want. Our goal was to take that to the next level by facilitating collaboration with Apple. And we wanted to make sure to differentiate the brands in a way that could work for both companies and not confuse people, since our products combine both web access and voice telephony. That’s it. Openness and clarity.

At MacWorld, Apple discussed the patents pending on their new phone technology. They clearly seem to value intellectual property. If the tables were turned, do you think Apple would allow someone to blatantly infringe on their rights? How would Apple react if someone launched a product called iPod but claimed it was ok to use the name because it used a different video format? Would that be ok? We know the answer – Apple is a very aggressive enforcer of their trademark rights. And that needs to be a two-way street.

This lawsuit is about Cisco's obligation to protect its trademark in the face of a willful violation. Our goal was collaboration. The action we have taken today is about not using people’s property without permission.

Cisco Blog

It's very clear that they wanna capitalize on the "i" tag everywhere, even if possible by stealing. iMac, iPod, iTunes, etc...and now iPhone. Can't they think of any other option? Certainly, it is "not-so-professional" act done by Apple.

Check this out: Everything About the iPhone: Our Gropes, Facts, Galleries, and Videos

*yawn* . . so whats happening in the end

. .

Latest update of the deal........

Companies still trying to reach agreement!

Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc. said it agreed to give Apple Inc. more time to respond to the lawsuit it filed over the "iPhone" trademark, extending negotiations until February 21.

"Cisco has agreed to give Apple an extension until Wednesday, February 21," Cisco said in a statement. "Cisco is fully committed to using the extra time to reach a mutually beneficial resolution."

It was the second agreement to an extension after a similar move on January 31.

While Cisco has said it wants to keep Apple from "infringing upon and deliberately copying and using" the trademark, it has also called for "interoperability", suggesting it was seeking more than a one-off payment for use of the name.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris confirmed the extension, saying the discussions were aimed at reaching an agreement on trademark rights and interoperability.

Source

Finally it's all over! The latest news of the lawsuit............

Cisco, Apple settle iPhone lawsuit

Cisco Systems Inc. and Apple Inc. said Wednesday they have settled the trademark-infringement lawsuit that threatened to derail Apple's use of the "iPhone" name for its much-hyped new iPod-cellular phone gadget.

The companies said they reached an agreement that will allow Apple to use the name for its sleek new multimedia device in exchange for exploring wide-ranging "interoperability" between the companies' products in the areas of security, consumer and business communications.

The showdown between the Silicon Valley tech heavyweights erupted last month when Cisco sued Apple in San Francisco federal court claiming that Apple's use of the iPhone name constituted a "willful and malicious" violation of a trademark that Cisco has owned since 2000.

Cisco's Linksys division has been using the trademark since last spring on a line of phones that make free long-distance calls over the Internet using a technology called Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP.

SOURCE: BusinessWeek

Thank God! That is a win-win situation. I am curious to know what sort of interoperability will there be between the two devices. Cisco is trying to use Apple's product as a leverage. Let us see how beneficial it is for them.
Apple got all the hype and discussions pumped up by getting themselves sued and then settled on the exact same terms the deal has started with in the first place. I don't see Apple losing anything in this case. All they got is loads of free publicity.

I have come to know that Apple has told that 3rd party s/w cant be installed on IPhone..Is it true??

But the phone luks gud & will be very heavy on pockets 2

Direct installation of third party applications won't be possible.

All third party applications will be approved by Apple before release. It will be "more of a controlled environment" according to Steven Paul Jobs, CEO of Apple, Inc.

With Google being one of Cisco’s biggest customers, and Google CEO Dr. Eric Schmidt on Apple’s Board of Directors, could a potential Google backlash been on John Chambers’ mind when agreeing to end the iPhone lawsuit?

Cisco iPhone outcome with Apple: was Google a factor

Cisco, Google and Apple are three of the world’s powerful IT players, and a perfect example of the ‘six degrees of separation’ that connects us all to virtually anyone else on the planet.

When Cisco took on Apple over the iPhone name, first by launching Linksys iPhone branded products towards the end of 2006 before the highest speculation of all time that Steve Jobs would launch an iPhone at Macworld 2007, and then by suing Apple the day after the iPhone announcement, Cisco knew that a fight with Apple could easily end up very messy and expensive, with Apple likely to come up smelling of roses anyway no matter what any legal outcome might have been.

That said, Cisco have managed to stake a relatively firm claim on the iPhone name, letting Cisco bask in some of Apple’s iPhone limelight, with the hope that there will be some kind of future interoperability with Apple products that could make Cisco and Linksys products more attractive to consumers and generate more sales than without any Apple or iPhone connection.

In this way, while this outcome was expected, both Apple and Cisco have been able to save face, with Apple able to claim the true victory yet giving Cisco access to what is one of the hottest brand names in the world today, even if Linksys iPhone sales are likely to be tiny in comparison with Apple iPhone sales.

Leaving Google out for a moment, the deal implies that Apple and Cisco will work together on something or in some way in the future, which in the rapidly changing digital media, computing and entertainment landscape could be a useful bit of insurance to have, although it does ultimately depend on Apple and Steve Jobs wanting to play ball.

So now we bring Google back in where we started. With Google and Apple very good friends, with Google CEO Dr. Eric Schmidt on Apple’s Board, how might Google have reacted to an intransigent Cisco willing to go to court with Apple over the iPhone name, no matter what?

From Cisco’s point of view, it’s all a bit too scary to think about. Cisco got to put out the ‘nobody messes with us or we sue’ message out there lest anyone else think they can similarly outsmart Cisco.

While Cisco have ‘lost’ to Apple, Cisco’s new ‘iPhone’ range has had the best free publicity in the global press ever, with the hope that anyone looking for a wireless VoIP phone that works with Skype and other VoIP providers – with that market growing quite nicely - might have had so much Cisco iPhone exposure that the Cisco/Linksys iPhone range proves to be a success all of their very own!

That, and keeping Google, one of your biggest customers on side, just may have made pressing the whole iPhone issue one of the smartest moves Cisco have made in a while.

Source: iTWire