Cisco might have lost iPhone trademark in '06
Apparently Cisco has more "iPhone" trouble in store for it than just that prior art dispute we mentioned yesterday. In order to keep a trademark alive, you have to file a "Declaration of Use" with the US Patent and Trademark office every six years or forfeit the trademark. On 11/16/2005 Cisco missed that deadline, but was granted a six month grace period, which it just barely squeezed through. Unfortunately for Cisco, a "Declaration of Use" requires demonstration of active use, under penalty of perjury. Cisco merely slapped an iPhone sticker onto an existing VoIP handset it was producing (shown above), but at the time hadn't put an actual iPhone product on shelves for a good long while. This jeopardizes the legitimacy of the trademark, and with Ocean Telecom Services LLC -- which is thought by most to be a front company for Apple -- next in line for the name, it's looking like anyone's game at this point. But for the sake of our own sanity, can we wrap this one up soon, guys? We were kind of hoping to spend the day resting up from CES and playing that new Gears of War map pack instead of reporting such minute developments. Oh well, what are you gonna do?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
