Cisco Systems and Apple announced on Wednesday they have settled the trademark-infringement lawsuit over the use of the iPhone name for Apple’s new multimedia phone which is set to become the next biggest phenonomen.
The agreement allows both Apple and Cisco to use the iPhone brand on their own products. Also, the companies said that they would explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security and of consumer and business communications.
The brief announcement made no reference to any financial agreement, nor did it specify how the two companies might work together. Representatives for Apple and Cisco declined to comment further, citing confidentiality restrictions.
Cisco sued Apple for trademark infringement in January after Apple unveiled its long-awaited multimedia device called the iPhone, a name claimed by the network equipment maker. Cisco also charged in its complaint that Apple had attempted to get rights to the iPhone name several times, but after Cisco refused, created a front company to try to acquire the rights another way, according to the lawsuit.
Cisco obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000 when it acquired Infogear, a small Redwood City, Calif., start-up that developed consumer devices that allowed people to access the Internet without a PC. Infogear had actually registered the iPhone trademark in March 1996.
The Apple iPhone is due to be released in America this Summer and is priced at: $499 for the 4gb version and $599 for the 8gb version.
