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

[Mathis]

Originally Posted by Macrolido

BTW is funny to see all the posts triying to talk in spanish.

Or spell in English.

[RevTEG]

Originally Posted by Woyzeck

I guess it's only a question of time before they sue Iran and Iraq for their obvious trademark infringement.

^ This comment for the win! Lol

[Hurda]

Originally Posted by MonkeySee....

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?

No, as you seem to have a weird understanding of cause and effect.

[ChazUK]

Originally Posted by cdreams

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

<snip>
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.

Wow, great read. Love it when little guys like your brother are able to step up to the big boys.

Well done to him!

[Leonard1818]

I think Mack truck should sue Apple as I sometimes get confused. Is that a computer driving on the freeway next to me? I heard it was a "mack".

[cdreams]

Originally Posted by ChazUK

Wow, great read. Love it when little guys like your brother are able to step up to the big boys.

Well done to him!

Cheers

It was great when he could finally move on and start doing what he loves again, making games. I loved his integrity after they settled, were he didn't even want compensation, he just wanted to move on as it had physically and mentally taken it's toll to the point he considered giving up working on games, something he's been passionate about for over 20 years.

[NorEaster]

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.

This post is a total fail. Your logic would have been right if a) iFone hadn't been registered first and b) if Apple had just gone after them once and settled. But iFone came first, and Apple decided to press this 3 times. So it's obvious that they aren't suing just to prove due diligence in trademark protection...they're doing it because Apple is the corporate equivalent of a petty 10 year old.

[nokuchikushi]

Originally Posted by TrentS

Yet another dumb ruling. iPhone is "different" than ifone... Duh!!



What pool of resources are these countries getting their judges from?!?

I live in México and trust me, iPhone and ifone are the same. Spanish relies a lot more on phonetic spelling than English.

[Saladinos]

Originally Posted by zorinlynx

Sorry, but Apple started this fight. My sympathy is zero.

Apple should know to leave well enough alone. They are mind-blowingly successful, yet they keep acting like douchebags with the lawsuits.

Get over it, Apple. Concentrate on making great products, that's all you need to succeed. Stop picking on smaller companies.

On patent enforcement they should concentrate on the big guys, and they've done fairly there IMO.

On trademark enforcement, they go over the top.

[nokuchikushi]

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.

What's your point?

I live in México and drink from the faucet every day... wouldn't do that in many US cities. But what any of that has to do with iPhone vs ifone is anybody's guess. Some immature people just like to bash México whenever they can.

[ctrl94]

Originally Posted by Saladinos

On patent enforcement they should concentrate on the big guys, and they've done fairly there IMO.

On trademark enforcement, they go over the top.

If you're saying they were doing the right thing by going after Samsung, you're wrong. Samsung's tablets are only similar to the iPad in that they are touchscreen and they don't have a keyboard.

[ChazUK]

Originally Posted by nokuchikushi

What's your point?

I live in México and drink from the faucet every day... wouldn't do that in many US cities. But what any of that has to do with iPhone vs ifone is anybody's guess. Some immature people just like to bash México whenever they can.

If Apple had come out on top, I have no doubt that the anecdotal water in that very ice would have been the elixir of life itself.

[nokuchikushi]

Originally Posted by NorEaster

This post is a total fail. Your logic would have been right if a) iFone hadn't been registered first and b) if Apple had just gone after them once and settled. But iFone came first, and Apple decided to press this 3 times. So it's obvious that they aren't suing just to prove due diligence in trademark protection...they're doing it because Apple is the corporate equivalent of a petty 10 year old.

The post was entirely correct. If you've ever created or worked with a patent or trademark then you would know this to be true. You criticize the author of the post as if he made that stuff up. He didn't. It's the way the laws work. Since you are well ignorant of the law, you're not qualified to stand as judge and jury.

[frayne182]

Originally Posted by nokuchikushi

What's your point?

I live in México and drink from the faucet every day... wouldn't do that in many US cities. But what any of that has to do with iPhone vs ifone is anybody's guess. Some immature people just like to bash México whenever they can.

I hear ya.

Mexico has a sour taste in Canadian mouths because of the beatings and and explosions at resorts.


I probably won't go there just on reputation. Even though I'm sure its a great place. I just wouldn't feel as relaxed.

[fiveainone]

Originally Posted by Hurda

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

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

Maybe units sold weren't great yet, but the silhouette ads was a huge hit, especially in design/marketing/advertising world.



Everybody tried to copy that hip design/ad style - bold colors, flat vector graphics, it was all over the place for years. That campaign brought a lot of attention to iPod and it's name. I know that was the first time I heard of iPod, based on those ads.

I have no prove, but I'm willing to bet the "i" from iFone was trying to grab a piece of that cake. And as the other poster has mentioned, iMac was already out for years. Do you really think a company in Mexico came up with a lower case "i" in front of their name just because they thought of it, and Apple's influence in the world at that time had nothing to do with it?

[yg17]

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.

iFone has been around since 2003. How in the bloody hell can they be infringing on Apple's trademark?

You people will defend Apple over anything

[Nunyabinez]

Originally Posted by NorEaster

This post is a total fail. Your logic would have been right if a) iFone hadn't been registered first and b) if Apple had just gone after them once and settled. But iFone came first, and Apple decided to press this 3 times. So it's obvious that they aren't suing just to prove due diligence in trademark protection...they're doing it because Apple is the corporate equivalent of a petty 10 year old.

Timing is irrelevant. Ask all the cyber-squatters that tried to extort companies when the internet was young. As I said, settling shows no attempt to protect your trademark. And, your approach sure worked well for Apple in China with the iPad trademark... oh wait.

[hamkor04]

Originally Posted by stuffradio

Are you going to tell that to Apple when they sue Grocery stores for having Apple's in the name or in the logo? I didn't think so. Don't be hypocritical. Apple this year still has been suing grocery stores with Apple's in them. Apple does not have clean hands in things like this.

absolutely, also worth to mention nowadays Apple has so many little dumb apples to support their stupid and discussing "strategies" and their ways to
"prosper"

[Sue De Nimes]

Originally Posted by deannnnn

Can Apple just stop suing everyone already? Jeez.

Apple had no grounds to sue iFone - well not when iFone registered their trademark years before Apple did.

Bullying from Apple

[frayne182]

I would expect iFone to be some cheap chinese knockoff you get from ebay anyways.

I can't imagine people thinking that has anything to do with iPhone.

Why can't they just live in peace with each other? lol

[fiveainone]

Originally Posted by ctrl94

The company filed the patent in 2003. Try again.

Lot's of "i" copycats in 2003 - and iPod, not iPhone. Try again.

[yg17]

Originally Posted by Nunyabinez

Timing is irrelevant. Ask all the cyber-squatters that tried to extort companies when the internet was young. As I said, settling shows no attempt to protect your trademark. And, your approach sure worked well for Apple in China with the iPad trademark... oh wait.

Yes, obviously it's all iFone's fault for not being able to predict the future and changing their name

iFone are not cybersquatters. Web Archive has a copy of their site from 2003 where they are clearly using the iFone name.

[Zombie Acorn]

Apple is the pursuer here, and they got their asses handed to them. From reading these posts it makes it sound like iFone went after Apple.

[ctrl94]

Originally Posted by Nunyabinez

Timing is irrelevant. Ask all the cyber-squatters that tried to extort companies when the internet was young. As I said, settling shows no attempt to protect your trademark. And, your approach sure worked well for Apple in China with the iPad trademark... oh wait.

They weren't protecting their trademark, they were trying to steal someone else's. Stop mindlessly defending them and think for a minute. iFone had the trademark first, and Apple tried to bully them out of it. That's a large multi-billion dollar corporation trying to take a name from a small business because they are too petty to just accept the fact that they weren't first.

[zorinlynx]

Originally Posted by Amazing Iceman

Didn't anyone ever taught you to "NEVER GIVE UP"?



That explains... Nothing left to say...

There's never giving up, and then there's being a douchebag and a bully when you don't have to.

Apple keeps doing the latter.

As for my sig explaining something... Huh?