(Spork) Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 http://www.phonearena.com/news/Apple-has-lost-their-legal-claim-to-the-iPhone-name-in-Mexico_id36199 Apple may have solved their trademark problems in China, but it appears they may have a bigger problem on its hands south of the U.S. border, as a court in Mexico City has denied an injunction that would have allowed Apple to continue to sell under the iPhone brand because it violates the trademarks of iFone, a Mexican telecommunications company. The ruling could have a major impact on Apple?s phone sales in Mexico, as well as affecting the marketing and sales plans of several wireless service providers in the country, some of which were gearing up to offer the iPhone 5 to customers this weekend. It?s not actually clear what Apple was thinking this time around ? the iFone trademark was filed in Mexico in 2003, a full four years before Apple filed to trademark the iPhone. Despite the rather obvious priority issue, Apple decided to sue iFone in 2009 in an attempt to invalidate the company?s name for being too similar to the iPhone. The predictable response was a countersuit by iFone, and the court battles have been swinging in iFone?s favor ever since. The move could prove costly to Apple in more ways than one. In addition to losing the ability to sell devices under the iPhone trademark in Mexico, iFone is also suing for damages for past infringement, asking for a minimum of 40% of all iPhone sales to date in the Mexican market. While those numbers aren?t nearly as large as they are in the U.S., it still would represent a substantial payment. It's not yet clear whether the embargo on using the iPhone name will go into effect before sales of the iPhone 5 start on Friday, or if this will trigger Apple to loosen the purse strings to negotiate a settlement with iFone, but given the circumstances it would seem that Apple has precious little leverage this time around. Clearly lawsuits can be a double-edged sword. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
articuno1au Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 That's pretty retarded on Apple's behalf.. I know why they did it, but damn that's funny. Perhaps next time they should just leave it alone >.> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted November 2, 2012 Veteran Share Posted November 2, 2012 just call it the iTelephono and get it over with Syanide, Stoffel, Max Norris and 2 others 5 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Neo Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 yoTel?fono Charisma and link6155 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 How about iGoof :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theyarecomingforyou Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 It?s not actually clear what Apple was thinking this time around ? the iFone trademark was filed in Mexico in 2003, a full four years before Apple filed to trademark the iPhone. Despite the rather obvious priority issue, Apple decided to sue iFone in 2009 in an attempt to invalidate the company?s name for being too similar to the iPhone. The predictable response was a countersuit by iFone, and the court battles have been swinging in iFone?s favor ever since. This is exactly what is wrong with modern business - rather than accept that the iFone brand is legitimate and simply rebrand the iPhone for that country Apple decided to sue them to invalidate their trademark. Nobody in their right mind could think that this is acceptable behaviour yet when there's money involved nobody cares about doing what's right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedonX Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Though I don't agree that Apple sued that company. But this coming from someone who lives in Mexico, I think it's a dumb the mexican court decided in favor of iFone (like I said, I don't agree that Apple sued them in 2009). But come on, you don't pronouce iFone and iPhone the same. It's not apple's fault, those who have english as their second language pronouce iPhone like iFone and think of the same thing. One is an english word, the other a spanish word. There is a slight pronunciation from that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodrigo Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Though I don't agree that Apple sued that company. But this coming from someone who lives in Mexico, I think it's a dumb the mexican court decided in favor of iFone (like I said, I don't agree that Apple sued them in 2009). But come on, you don't pronouce iFone and iPhone the same. It's not apple's fault, those who have english as their second language pronouce iPhone like iFone and think of the same thing. One is an english word, the other a spanish word. There is a slight pronunciation from that. Who in their right mind (unless obviously being a huge fanboy) would say "I think it's a dumb the mexican court decided in favor of iFone". Seriously? And that's THE WHOLE POINT, the brand doesn't even sound the same but still Apple decided to sue because of the similarities of the name. Apple was just trying to be a bully and they are getting exactly what they deserve. Plain AND simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 ^ Um... no.. In English.. iFone and iPhone have identical pronunciations The letters "ph" in English forms an "F" sound. It's 100% completely right and proper that iFone won this case. Their trademark predates Apple's by 4 years andit's in the same market area. Apple had zero leg to stand on here and it was reprehensible that they should have tried to steal another company's trademark. Time to rename their iPhone to iGotPwnd. (Spork) and Charisma 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkburn Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 But come on, you don't pronouce iFone and iPhone the same. It's not apple's fault, those who have english as their second language pronouce iPhone like iFone and think of the same thing. One is an english word, the other a spanish word. There is a slight pronunciation from that. Out of interest, how are they pronounced differently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryoken Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 In other news, Apple purchased the iFone company, and shut it down on the same day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glassed Silver Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Ugh... wouldn't have wakened the sleeping dogs... This had trouble written all over it... :rolleyes: Glassed Silver:mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linsook Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Out of interest, how are they pronounced differently? haha http://www.forvo.com/word/fone/#pt hows this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abandonedaccount Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Pretty sure Apple with buy them off or bribe them to use the name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
encarta Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 ?h?jole! phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted November 2, 2012 Veteran Share Posted November 2, 2012 Pretty sure Apple with buy them off or bribe them to use the name. kinda like how Cisco was in their way with their iOS name... hey lets give them tons of cash and make an agreement so we don't have to think of another name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freedonX Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Like I said, I don't agree with Apple suing (prettty much everytime they sue it's because of something stupid). I'm more aiming that iFone countersued, which...well you just don't cross your arms and let someone else take the advantage but I don't agree with either side. They should just live with it, it's not like either are really going to affected. Out of interest, how are they pronounced differently? uhm the only word I can think of ATM from spanish. iFone like "fonetica" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charisma Veteran Posted November 2, 2012 Veteran Share Posted November 2, 2012 As an English and Spanish speaker, I can confirm that iFone and iPhone are pronounced pretty much identically, at least there. The "f" and "ph" sounds are the same in English, and although the latter combination does not exist in Spanish, speakers know enough to know what an iPhone is and how to say it. With both they will likely pronounce the final 'e' as well, said kind of like the phonetic "schwa" sound. So, yeah. I vote for iManzana :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted November 2, 2012 Veteran Share Posted November 2, 2012 Like I said, I don't agree with Apple suing (prettty much everytime they sue it's because of something stupid). I'm more aiming that iFone countersued, which...well you just don't cross your arms and let someone else take the advantage but I don't agree with either side. They should just live with it, it's not like either are really going to affected. uhm the only word I can think of ATM from spanish. iFone like "fonetica" Phone in spanish sounds like Ponaye (spelled phonetically) since the h is silent fone sounds more like phone in english Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
episode Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 This is exactly what is wrong with modern business - rather than accept that the iFone brand is legitimate and simply rebrand the iPhone for that country Apple decided to sue them to invalidate their trademark. Nobody in their right mind could think that this is acceptable behaviour yet when there's money involved nobody cares about doing what's right. Now they'll either buy the trademark or the company and close it. Not a big deal when you're Apple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I am Reid Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 haha http://www.forvo.com/word/fone/#pt hows this? still the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichi Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Like I said, I don't agree with Apple suing (prettty much everytime they sue it's because of something stupid). I'm more aiming that iFone countersued, which...well you just don't cross your arms and let someone else take the advantage but I don't agree with either side. They should just live with it, it's not like either are really going to affected. iFone would probably not even have bothered with all this hadn't Apple go hostile first. It probably has more to do with giving Apple a spanking than getting a compensation for any kind of hypothetical damages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodrigo Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 ^ Um... no.. In English.. iFone and iPhone have identical pronunciations The letters "ph" in English forms an "F" sound. It's 100% completely right and proper that iFone won this case. Their trademark predates Apple's by 4 years andit's in the same market area. Apple had zero leg to stand on here and it was reprehensible that they should have tried to steal another company's trademark. Time to rename their iPhone to iGotPwnd. Actually that's my point, in English it sounds the same, however we are talking about Mexico where Spanish is the main language not English, therefore the pronunciation is not the same. Out of interest, how are they pronounced differently? iFone would be pronounced something like this: eefon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloatingFatMan Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Actually that's my point, in English it sounds the same, however we are talking about Mexico where Spanish is the main language not English, therefore the pronunciation is not the same. Ah, but Apple aren't, and from what I understand, even in Spanish, iPhone is pronounced the same way; so I can really see why they went after iFone. They're THAT arrogant they just assumed everyone says it the same way as they do and decided to try to bully them into giving up their property and paying up loads of cash. Serves the ******** right for losing. I hope they lose their shirts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Growled Member Posted November 3, 2012 Member Share Posted November 3, 2012 Apple sure is doing some stupid stuff lately. I'm not sure they can make it with Jobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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