Apple Loses iPhone Trademark Battle in Brazil

Brazil’s Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) has issued a ruling against Apple, declaring that the tech giant does not have exclusive rights to the iPhone name in the country. Apple has already announced that the company will appeal the decision, but it is interesting to see Apple losing such a case. The ruling is the result of a local company, Gradiente Eletronica, registering the name in 2000, six years before the US firm. The INPI told the BBC, who broke the story, that its decision only applied to handsets, and that the California-based company continued to have exclusive rights to use the iPhone name elsewhere including on clothing, in software and across publications. Will Apple be able to win the appeal issued to regulators? It sounds possible as Apple is asking the INPI to cancel Gradiente’s registration through expiration – it is arguing that the Brazilian firm did not use the name within a five year limit. Ouch!