Sadly, the only people that have been officially called up about the iPhone are two of Steve Jobs’ friends at the keynote, a bewildered Starbucks employee and a whole stack of lawyers.

The short version of this debacle is that Cisco bought a company which has been using the iPhone name since 1997. Apple countered that at least three different companies have been using the iPhone brand name despite Cisco’s ownership, and that Cisco had never used it in conjunction with a cell phone, despite the Skype/wireless VoIP phone launched late last year. 

It’s been reported that Cisco wanted some kind of interoperability between the two iPhones – theirs and Apple’s – and that there should be clear differentiation between the two in advertising. Cisco also reported that Apple had approached Cisco a number of times to talk about using the iPhone brand name.

It seems like Apple has been down this path before, with their own name: Apple. Who can forget that the Beatles had their own music company called Apple, and that an agreement had been set in place years ago to ensure that Apple Computer called itself Apple Computer, and not just Apple.

Clearly, with the renaming of Apple Computer, Inc. to just Apple, Inc., some kind of deal has been reached.

Looks like Apple will have to do the same with the iPhone. But don’t expect Apple or Steve Jobs to back down. Aye, this iPhone business is already watering the eyes with legalistic lows and highs. Surprise! {moscomment}

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Alex Zaharov-Reutt  Apple  Browsers  Cellphones  Intellectual property rights  Litigation  iPod