Apple iPhone? Linksys Beats Them to it

Telecom News Editorials Reports Glossary

7:20 am on December 19, 2006 | Category: Business, VoIP, Mobile Devices, Cell Phones, Law

The pending launch of an “Apple iPhone” music-enabled mobile device, true to the hardware maker’s iPod branding scheme, has been a cornerstone of technology blogsphere gossip for well over a year now. A little known fact, however, which has recently surfaced, is that Apple never owned the rights to the iPhone brand name.

Instead, Cisco’s wireless networking division, Linksys, is using its trademark on the term to launch a new line of seven wireless VoIP handsets, which are variously able to connect with online communication services such as Skype and Yahoo Messenger.

The Linksys iPhone trademark long predates the Apple iPod, and was registered by Linksys back in 1996, under the category of “computer hardware and software for providing integrated telephone communication with computerized global information networks.”

In other words, if Apple decides to follow through on alleged plans to launch an iTunes-enabled cell phone, it will need to come up with a catchy new brand name that isn’t already registered by another company.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons that they’ve been dragging their heels for so long on the launch of this much anticipated and potentially very lucrative device.