Apple Loses 'iPhone' Name Rights in Mexico over Phonetic Similarity [Updated]

[Tiger8]

Originally Posted by CristobalHuet

Time to dip into the warchest and pay these fools to get over it.

Where is the downvote button when you need it?

[iLilana]

Originally Posted by Szarky

iCaramba!

best comment ever

[notabadname]

Apple should simply purchase Mexico.

[ctrl94]

Originally Posted by akbarali.ch

buy them, then close them for ever!

You're right, that's the only way Apple knows how to compete: buy shutting down the competition.

[token787]

Apple need to seriously stop it and have a seat in all of Mexico's country!!

[bradgfromboo]

Originally Posted by iapplelove

Lol ****ing Mexico. Anyone ever go there ? It's the least of their problmes

Apparently you haven't... Mexico is amazing.

It's hilarious how bad apple is making themselves look. God what a bunch of tools....

[iLilana]

Originally Posted by Nunyabinez

Reading this reminds me of a Steve Martin line in one of his songs: "Criticize things you don't know about."

Disclaimer: Not a lawyer.

Someone tried to explain this, but apparently most of you didn't understand it.

Apple has trademarks that are literally worth billions of dollars. There are reams of case law regarding what someone has to do to protect a trademark. For example, let's say I own trademark XYZ and a company creates a product called XYZ. After 10 years, XYZ product becomes hugely successful. I now sue for infringement. The courts will ask, "why didn't you sue when you first became aware of the infringement? It appears that it is only the fact that this trademark has become valuable that is motivating you. If you weren't concerned before, why are you concerned now?"

I would have to demonstrate all kinds of things including that I was being damaged by the infringement. But, the key fact here is that I didn't try to proactively protect my trademark. I hate all the suits, but you have to understand that if Apple lets even one of these go, it opens the door for someone to take control of an asset that they have spent billions creating. Now, you may say it's only a name, but trademarks can be extremely valuable.

This is not a case as many of you suggest that Apple is a bully or conceited, or whatever. Apple is a business that needs to protect its assets, and the way to protect a trademark is to actively pursue anyone who infringes. Yeah, it might seem crappy to go after a grocery store, but it's not because they are jerks, it's because they a cautious about a billion dollar asset.

The Mexican court made the right call, but so did Apple in bringing the suit. No one will be able to claim that Apple has not proactively protected the iPhone trademark. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Apple knew they would lose. But rather than paying off the iFone, sued first to establish that they are actively protecting this trademark. There are times when bringing a lawsuit isn't cost effective (at least in the short run), but gives you many other benefits.

exactly

[4D4M]

Originally Posted by ctrl94

You're right, that's the only way Apple knows how to compete: buy shutting down the competition.

Another anti-Apple newbie... do you actually know anything about the company at all? Or did you just come here to stick a spoon in and stir the mix?

[Singin Hobo]

Get ready for the Aye-yi-yi-phone

[notabadname]

Originally Posted by ctrl94

You're right, that's the only way Apple knows how to compete: buy shutting down the competition.

Huh? It's a telecom, not a phone manufacturer. How is Apple shutting down competition in Mexico by seeking rights to use a similar sounding but different name for a hardware product versus a service?

[TrentS]

Originally Posted by Singin Hobo

Get ready for the Aye-yi-yi-phone

I'm waiting for the Badda Bing Badda Bang Badda Boom Phone!!



But really, does all this really matter!? When December 21st rolls around, we'll all be dead anyways...

[spb3]

ifone should sue iphone

[ScottNWDW]

If I were Tim Cook I would just stop selling the iPhone in Mexico. iFone and iPhone are two different trademarks, even if they do sound the same. Since iFone is a telecommunications company, just stop allowing them to carry the iPhone. If there is no other telecommunication company in Mexico, well too bad for Mexican citizens, no iPhone for you.

[pacalis]

Originally Posted by Singin Hobo

Get ready for the Aye-yi-yi-phone

They already have the trademarked locked on ai-yi-yi-maps.

[Hurda]

Originally Posted by MonkeySee....

Don't know about anyone else but companies sticking and "i" in front of their product/company name leaching off Apples success deserves everything they get.

Linksys (then InfoGear) iPhone - released in 1998
Apple iMac - first released in 1998
NTT DoCoMo's i-mode - released in 1999

You were saying?

[aristotle]

Originally Posted by bradgfromboo

Apparently you haven't... Mexico is amazing.

It's hilarious how bad apple is making themselves look. God what a bunch of tools....

I have been to Mexico. I accidentally consumed a fountain soft drink at a fast food restaurant and put ice in it. I spent the next week at home sitting on the toilet.

[pacalis]

Originally Posted by ScottNWDW

If I were Tim Cook I would just stop selling the iPhone in Mexico. iFone and iPhone are two different trademarks, even if they do sound the same. Since iFone is a telecommunications company, just stop allowing them to carry the iPhone. If there is no other telecommunication company in Mexico, well too bad for Mexican citizens, no iPhone for you.

Obviously this is silly talk. Cook should sell iFones everywhere else.

[frayne182]

Originally Posted by aristotle

I have been to Mexico. I accidentally consumed a fountain soft drink at a fast food restaurant and put ice in it. I spent the next week at home sitting on the toilet.

Thats like everywhere you go down south.

Dominican, Cuba, etc.


I just pretty much accept that I'm going to get the ***** when I'm down in those places.

[ctrl94]

I hate all the suits, but you have to understand that if Apple lets even one of these go, it opens the door for someone to take control of an asset that they have spent billions creating.

Apple is not protecting their innovation, they're eliminating anyone who tries to compete in the same market as them. They are trying to create a monopoly so that they can fill their pockets with the consumers' money.

Apple is a business that needs to protect its assets, and the way to protect a trademark is to actively pursue anyone who infringes. Yeah, it might seem crappy to go after a grocery store, but it's not because they are jerks, it's because they a cautious about a billion dollar asset.

So you're saying that a grocery store, to which an apple is much more relevant, should not be able to advertise that they sell apples?
ISHYGDDT

No one will be able to claim that Apple has not proactively protected the iPhone trademark.

You might even say they overactively protected it.

I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Apple knew they would lose.

So they should sue everyone they can just to make sure noone is "copying" their "innovation"?

but brings you many other benefits

Like stealing money from a company who is only interested in honest competition? I seriously wonder if Apple fanboys read what they write before they post it.

[KnightWRX]

Originally Posted by stuffradio

Apple did this with IOS and Cisco. Cisco had IOS for their router operating system for a long time, and then Apple licensed the name or bought it. They should have attempted the same thing here instead of trying to sue them to stop being a company...

This is of course after Cisco successfully sued Apple over the iPhone name, which they owned prior to 2007. Of course Apple actually asked for iOS, it would have been quite the shock to Cisco to have to go through all those proceedings a 2nd time with Apple.

[ctrl94]

Originally Posted by fiveainone

but.. I would guess iFone picked their name because using "i" in the name was already "in" because of iPod?

The company filed the patent in 2003. Try again.

[cdreams]

My brother had to go through something similar recently with Warner Bros who were trying to sue him for using the name iNCEPTIONAL.

Their claim was that he was piggybacking off the film Inception's success, however he had been using the name for over 2 years before the Inception was even mentioned in the public domain.

He created the name by mixing up the words Inception and Exceptional to create iNCEPTIONAL, the creation of something exceptional.

It wasn't until he tried to register his name with the trademark office that he got a challenge from Warner Brothers who had put in their application after his. He battled them for over a year with them trying to bully him into removing his name from all material but he proved that he had used the name way before they had and that he had indeed registered it before they had.

The worst thing about it all though, was he offered a deal with them but they weren't interested and thought they could outsmart him. So after a year he won his fight against them with no concessions and his name iNCEPTIONAL is now legally registered with the Trademark office. What's even better is the newspapers wanted to support him by highlighting the unscrupulous nature of these big companies and how they use money and size to ruin peoples lives or ideas.

You can see info on it here: http://www.scotsman.com/edinburgh-ev...name-1-2590283

He's now free to get on with making his game SaveSanti without fear of WB hounding him which was pathetic.

----------

Originally Posted by ctrl94

The company filed the patent in 2003. Try again.

I really hope they have to pay the company a substantial amount for all the grief they will have put the little company through trying to fight off and prove their case to the courts.

I remember many years ago people hated Bill Gates for being an a-hole to smaller companies, I feel Apple is acting similar in many senses and using their size and money to bully smaller businesses. Businesses that people have probably worked their as**s off to establish only to have to deal with some unjust legal case.

[MonkeySee....]

Originally Posted by Hurda

Linksys (then InfoGear) iPhone - released in 1998
Apple iMac - first released in 1998
NTT DoCoMo's i-mode - released in 1999

You were saying?

I was just saying how companies are leeching of Apples success by putting an "i" in front of their products.

Sorry was that not clear?

[ctrl94]

Originally Posted by 4D4M

Another anti-Apple newbie... do you actually know anything about the company at all? Or did you just come here to stick a spoon in and stir the mix?

Are you implying that Apple actually competes fairly? They've started too many patent wars to count over products and names that they didn't invent because they had a slight similarity to what Apple was making. As far as actually competing, just look at the Mac Pros. They're using incredibly old hardware and charging three times as much for it as it costs to buy it on newegg. Not only that, but they're selling server components for a desktop computer. Why anyone would do that is beyond me.

[Hurda]

Originally Posted by fiveainone

but.. I would guess iFone picked their name because using "i" in the name was already "in" because of iPod?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...er_quarter.svg

Yeah, iPod was totally hot ****** in 2003...