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Today in Apple history: iPhone may have to seek new name
- On December 18, 2006, rumors spread that Apple is to debut its smartphone with the name 'iPhone'. But the truth is that the trademark didn't belong to Cupertino but to Linksys, a brand owned by Cisco.
- Cisco Systems had acquired InfoGear, the company that originally registered the iPhone trademark in 1998. The device made early use of touch technology, visual voicemail, basic apps, and more.
- Cisco introduced it's iPhone, which were in fact Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) handsets branded as iPhones and cost around $200. Both came preloaded with Skype.
- Despite Cisco owning the name, Apple decided to release its own iPhone the following year. This led to Cisco filing a suit against Apple, but Steve Jobs used his brazen tactics, pressing Cisco to hand over the name.
- The negotiation displayed some classic Steve Jobs negotiating tactics. The iPhone went on to become the most popular consumer electronics device of all time.
- Apple 'borrowed' another trademark owned by Cisco - the name 'IOS' (which Cisco used for 'Internet Operating System').
- As a make-good, Apple and Cisco said they would team up to 'explore opportunities for interoperability,' although this never happened.
- With the iPhone becoming a worldwide phenomenon, many have suggested that if it wasn't for the underhanded tactics of Steve Jobs, it may have been called something else.
- Interestingly, Apple decided to go with 'Apple Watch' rather than 'iWatch' for its first wearable, possibly due to the difficulty of trademarking such iTitles.
- Four years after the Linksys iPhone spurred Apple's confrontation with Cisco for its iPhone trademark, Apple repeated its somewhat underhanded move by 'borrowing' another trademark owned by Cisco - the name 'IOS'.
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