When most people think of the iPhone name, they think of Apple’s new cell phone breakout consumer electronic device. Well, this is not the case in Canada. A company called Comwave from the Maple leaf country specifically Toronto, says people should think of the iPhone name in their country a different way. The president of the company Yuval Barzakay claims that it owns the trademark in Canada for VoIP or voice over Internet protocol products.
The company markets it’s VoIP products, including a wireless handheld phone in 500 communities across Canada. Apple had filed a trademark application for the name “iPhone” in Canada on October 24. The application for the name was advertised in 2005 in accordance with Canadian requirements, which then alerted Comwave to Apple’s intentions. Comwave filed an opposition to the application claiming it had been using the name since June 2004.
Comwave’s president Yuval Barzakay says, “The force they put into marketing would quickly make the brand Apple’s and not ours. It’s a case of hijacking the brand.” While this seems to be an overstatement for the short term, he could be right in the long term.
Both of these companies need to work out an arrangement for use with the iPhone name in Canada as Apple has with Cisco in the US. Mr. Barzakay has said that both of the companies have been in talks for a while over the iPhone name and that Apple has two options available to them now. He says, “.. they can either walk away from the trademark and let us keep the iPhone name here in Canada, or they can buy the brand from us.” It would not be the first time for Apple to have to buy a name or product to make it their own.
If the two sides can not come to an agreement, they will have to wait for the Canadian Intellectual Property Office to decide who gets the use of the name “iPhone” in Canada. Via iPodObserver.