Cisco Troubles With iPhone Trademark in Canada

By: Christopher Meinck
Cisco is currently filing suit against Apple in the US for trademark infringement. In Canada, Comwave Telecom has been using 'iPhone' for years and has also filed an application with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. According to CNET, Comwave Telecom has sent Cisco a letter of warning alleging a violation of their 'iPhone' trademark.

The term iPhone has been in use by Comwave since 2004 and they filed for a trademark application in 2005. According to experts quoted in the story, they base trademark awards on such issues as:

First company using the brand name in Canada or in applying to register the name
Apple filed an application for the term 'iPhone' in 2004, prior to Comwave's application. Cisco had filed an application (through Infogear) to obtain a trademark for the iPhone name in 1998, but abandoned those efforts in the middle of 2003. "We recently became aware of Comwave and we're investigating the issue thoroughly," said Cisco spokesman John Noh."Our legal department has put Cisco on notice," said Yuval Barzakay, president of Toronto-based Comwave. "We will see how they react and then gauge our next action."