“Apple has lost an injunction bid that would have allowed it to continue selling iPhone-branded products in Mexico,” Electronista reports.
“A court in Mexico City handed down a ruling last Thursday denying Apple’s injunction request on the grounds that the iPhone brand is too phonetically similar to iFone, a brand belonging to a Mexican company that registered its name four years prior to Apple’s filing for the iPhone brand mark,” Electronista reports. “The decision stems from a legal action that Apple initially filed in 2009 requesting that the company cease using the iFone brand in order to head off the possibility of consumer confusion.”
Electronista reports, “El Universal reports that the iFone trade name was registered in Mexico in 2003, some four years before Apple did so… iFone is a telecommunications company selling communications systems and services, including interfaces for IP-based telephone calls, virtual office services, and software for switching systems.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yea, okay. Couldn’t Apple simply buy iFone S.A. de C.V. with petty cash?
Such racism overload in the comments. Mexico is of course a big market where 90% of the population owns some sort of mobile phone and 25% owns a full-featured smartphone. Apple can, of course, decide not to sell the iPhone in Mexico, but they’d be punishing themselves, not the country. Not only is their product replaceable by top-notch Android alternatives, but most potential Mexicans costumers are able to either go to the US and buy the device, or have somebody bring it to them. Apple had in did been using the “i” prefix for other products, but iFone never broke the law. iFone was sued first and having won the trial, deserves a compensation. Finally, I think some of the commenters would be sad to realize that if they moved to Mexico with the same income they get in the US, they wouldn’t even be upper-middle class. No need for the majority of Mexicans to migrate anywhere. Oh, I almost forget, a lot of tech-related Mexican companies use English names instead of Spanish (not “Mexican”) names because they can do bussiness globally and well… they like it that way, not to mention that there are far more bilingual Mexicans than there are Americans.
Sure, those are some good points, but in Spanish, iPhone is pronounced eye-phone. Nobody that I know calls it eee-phone, like the name of this other company is pronounced in Spanish. That said, I think this will get settled, and at this point it’s a money grab. Apple will reach some kind of agreement since, like you state, it is a massive market that Apple will not lose to something like this.
I agree with MDN. It’s a no-brainer to me that they should have bought it in the first place. Makes Apple® look bad going after this when they had it registered in 2003.
Of course, Apple® still had iThings back then, too, but it didn’t matter to them then, and couldn’t have won that anyway.
Roughly translated, ifone paid the best premium to the judge. Apple didn’t pay up. Ifone won lol that’s how it works. I could go outbid ifone and win the rights to their name also lol I’m from Mexico, I should know lol
Buy “iFone S.A. de C.V.” with petty cash and sell them “iFoney S.A. de C.V.” for 2¢.
Mexican jurisprudence is universally as respected as Mexican technology and Mexican pharmaceuticals
So in Mexico we will have AyPhone 5 or what?
Interesting though, if I’d name my product aiFoun and it was made by Äpl I could get away with it as those are the exact phononyms.
Big mistake from Apple Legal, I think.
They should have just bought them off. Why the hell do they think they’re entitled to a name already used by someone else?
This is what really get me. The iFone is pronounced in Spanish very differently then iPhone. In Mexico every body calls the iPhone “eye-phone”. The other brand is pronounce “eee-phone”. So you can see that somebody is after a money grab. Apple will have no other recourse than to pay a royalty to this company.
Of course. Mexicos law system is so corrupt that any injunction should be taken with as much salt as their control of their borders and their corruption and drug problems. If we allowed one iPhone sale for every border jumping Mexican it would take care of the problem!!!
Sorry. I trademarked “i”. ASndf while I was at it, I bought another vowel.
This is stupid… In spanish the i is pronounced like an e.
So phonetically in spanish that name would be like eFone… which is not the same iPhone in english
They just want some $$$
Get some good layers apple…
everybody calm down, it’s really no big deal if ever Mexico ban the
iPhone, just set up Apple Stores along the borders of Ca Az Tx and sell iPhones. those mexicans can buy and sell iPhones with profits when they bring it back to Mexico. think of how many Mexicans cross the border back and forth everyday.
LOL?