On the eve of a new phone, Apple appears to want in on Cisco's "iPhone" trademark

Shortly before Christmas, I published a blog that dove deep on the issue of the trademark for iPhone and how Apple is currently suffering from the old "posession is nine tenths of the law rule." Actually, in this case, that should be "domestic US posession." Apple's much anticipated iTunes capable cell phone is the new worst kept secret in silicon valley. The last least kept secret that hit the noise level that Apple's cell phone is currenlty hitting was Intel's foray into the hybrid 32/64 bit processor market that AMD invented.

Intel swore up and down that it would never ever undermine the investment it was making in its pure 64 bit processors and spent a lot of marketing dollars to throw water on the fire that AMD started. But there wasn't a single disbeliever in the industry when it came to the rumors of a similar hybrid in the skunkworks at Intel. Sure enough, Intel released the hybrid and the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, it's Apple's turn. But there's a problem. The most natural name for an Apple cell phone and the one that it has trademarked in certain places in the world where the GDP might not be enough to buy more than about 10 such phones is "iPhone." The problem? It's already trademarked here in the US and the trademark holder is Cisco who just recently announced a Skype-compatible Voice over IP phone (pictured above right) under that very name. The timing couldn't have been better planned. It was as if Cisco's CEO John Chambers sent a message to Apple's CEO Steve Jobs through the new product introduction pipeline that said "It's our trademark, we intend to use it. So don't mess with us." 

So, now, two days before MacWorld is due to open in San Francisco, where the top prediction is that Steve Jobs  will finally pull an Apple-made cell phone out of his pocket once he's on stage, what will he call it? Some people I've spoken to think he's just going to go for it and call it the "iPhone" anyway. Jobs has nothing to lose. The controversy bubble over so badly that the iPhone will be immortalized (virtually dominating the headlines even after its announced) before it's available on the market. Apple gets sued. So what? Apple can afford to get sued. I've hypothesized before that it already knows how, one day, it'll get hauled into anti-trust court for having a monopoly on purchased music downloads. The cost of that suit is already on someone's spreadsheet in Apple's strategic budgeting department.

Or then again, maybe not. In other words, maybe Apple will get to call its cell phone the iPhone after all. Today, a trusted source forwarded to me via email the following summary detailing the history of the trademark and the secret negotiations between Apple and Cisco that are underway right now, as I write this blog:

• Apple has known about the iPhone trademark for years and approached Cisco starting in December 2001
• Cisco declined because of existing and planned product lines
• Apple has approached Cisco 3 times over the past year for rights to the iPhone trademark
• Cisco again declined because of existing and planned product lines
• More recently (last few weeks) high level negotiations for a "shared approach"
• It seems that in this case both an Apple cell phone and a Cisco VOIP phone would co-exist with the iPhone branding
• I think these discussions are still active and ongoing

And then, here is a timeline that my source sent to me as well:

• 1996: InfoGear applies to register the iPhone mark with the US Patent and Trademark office (March 20, 1996)
• 1997: InfoGear debuted the iPhone
• 1998: InfoGear filed for the trademark with the EU (April 1998)
• 1999: InfoGear announces updated version of iPhone
• 1999: iPhone trademark registered in the EU by InfoGear (May 25th, 1999)
• 1999: iPhone trademark registered in the US by InfoGear (November 16th, 1999)
• 2000: Cisco announced the acquisition of InfoGear in March 2000 (March 16, 2000), (it closed on June 5th 2000)
• 2001 – 2006: Cisco continues servicing and providing technical support for the iPhone
• 2006: Updated iPhone product line shipped by Cisco/Linksys (April 2006)
• 2006: Cisco/Linksys released updated iPhone for VoIP (December 18th 2006) 

My source didn't tell me where this timeline came from. But if you ask me, it sure reads like a bullet list that was prepared by Cisco's attorneys in advance of some negotiation. And maybe it's no mistake that this information is starting to leak out right now, in advance of MacWorld. If all of this is true and now that it's  public, not only does it strengthen Cisco's case, it leaves Jobs with almost no options. If he decides to move forward with the iPhone name without agreement from Cisco, the fact that all of this history is now public information will paint Jobs and Apple in a light that neither can afford to be painted in (especially given the recent backdating news with respect to Apple's stock options and Jobs' involvement in that mess, or lack thereof).