Mexico to Apple: You WILL NOT use the name 'iPhone' here

Apple has lost the right to use the word "iPhone" in Mexico after its trademark lawsuit against Mexican telco iFone backfired. Judges sitting in Mexico's 18th District Appellate Court have ruled that iFone is the only company allowed to use the "iPhone" or "iFone" brands in the North American country. The decision marks the …

[Craigness]

¡Phone!

[Anonymous Coward]

Oooooooooooooouch!

That smarts that does.

[Thorne]

Karma is a bitch

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it still schadenfreude when they really deserve it?

[Anonymous Coward]

will that make it the José-fon?

[miknik]

Bwahaha

Reading that article was like watching one of those YouTube videos where the bully picks on the fat kid and then ends up getting owned.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Bwahaha

Not the first time it's happened recently...That time Apple attempted fraud to win a similar case.

France: the frugivore lion, a tale of suspicious prior rights acquisition

[dssf]

wow!

Karma isssss a frikin BITCH!!!

yo quero iphone BELL!!!!

[ysth]

I was going to suggest...

I was going to suggest "MexiPhone", but that's way better!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I was going to suggest...

It's commonly referred to as the Jesus phone here... Just adjust the pronunciation for our Spanish-speaking friends :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I was going to suggest...

"It's commonly referred to as the Jesus phone here... Just adjust the pronunciation for our Spanish-speaking friends :)"

What? By writing Jose-fon? Jesus is Jesus in Spanish - yes that is he-sus not ho-se.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I was going to suggest...

yes that is he-sus not ho-se.

Surely pronounced hey-seus

[Erwin Hofmann]

iPhon(y)

... just don't forget that Apple started the whole thing (again) ...

[Bumpy Cat]

Hahaha

Now there's justice, both poetic and actual. What on earth did Apple think was going to happen when they launched this lawsuit?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Hahaha

I wonder how diplomatic they'll be in defeat. They're probably rich enough to buy the offending company, fire all its staff, burn its property to the ground and plough salt into the land upon which it was built as an example to others.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Hahaha

<- Troll icon goes here

I'm guessing the thought process in the collective Apple brain went as follows:

- We're American therefore their laws mean nothing to us and we're going to do whatever we like

- It's okay to steal IP as long as we're the ones doing it because we're cool

- There is never any comeback when we acts like a bunch of powercrazed bullying ar*eholes because everyone gets too distracted by the shint-shiny to notice we're doing it (until we do it to them) so why should there be any this time around?

[JaimieV]

Re: Hahaha

... didn't Apple kick off the whole iNoun thing in the first place?

[CADmonkey]

Re - didn't Apple kick off the whole iNoun thing in the first place?

My still-functioning BT iPlayer would beg to differ.

In use since 1998, if memory serves.

[cyke1]

Re: Hahaha

by that reasoning, any word that starts with "i" would be a violation. but apple stared it with imac in 1998 and ipod in 2001, but Apple wasn't very big til iphone was released so its kinda hard for them bust up anything from 2003 that was registered first.

[JeffyPooh]

Re: Hahaha

I actually have a Linksys CIT300 "iPhone", the Skype-enabled Ethernet + POTS cordless telephone.

[MrXavia]

Re: Hahaha

Yep I have one of those iPhones too...

[darkpill]

Re: Hahaha

Well, I hate to rain on everyone's parade. Actually. That's a lie. I'm gonna LOVE raining on your parade. The Register Article is wrong. [nelson laugh]Ha-haaaa[/nelson laugh]

http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/2/3591380/iphone-ifone-and-apples-mexican-trademark-standoff-whats-really-going

"APPLE ALREADY OWNS TWO IPHONE TRADEMARKS IN MEXICO, AND IT WANTED A THIRD"

[Miffo]

Re: Hahaha

Why has darkpill's post got downvoted for providing a link with more detailed information. Information is good!

[Nomedias]

Re: Hahaha

@darkpill, thanks for an informative post and link. Too bad most will not find it between all the derrogatory anti-mexican comments and wishful thinking regard karma. This article needs editing BADLY.

[Big_Ted]

Just move the I.........

And call it the Phone-i pronounced Phoney......

[Matt_payne666]

A lovely day out walking with the girls, home to find this story... what a great end to the week!

[Chuunen Baka]

Geography

Can I just thank you for telling us that Mexico is in North America. I feel much better informed now.

[Alan Denman]

Re: Geography

IOS maps bites again?

[dssf]

Re: Geography no vas?

Next, as with Dokdo, Apple will claim it cannot use Mexican diacritics because a law of Mexico forbids removing national chart and map information from the country. But, it will just simply remove Mexi from the maps....

Then, sincw apple STARTED this thermonuclear war business, the cartels warring against each other will start kidnapping apple execs until apple restores Mexico to the maps. Then, Mexican judges will say, "apple execs, in unison, you have, unlije in the UK, ONE AND ONLY ONE chance to apologize, and not appollogise. Do NOT fuck it up!"

That would be schweet, if apple has to apologize to iFone, in Spanish, in the correct fonts and accents or diacritics.

[jestersbro]

Re: Geography

When I was at school Mexico was the most northerly nation in Central America. That's plate tectonics for you.

Oh yeah,

HAAAHAAAAAAAAHAHAA HAAAAHAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!OHGODICAN'TBREATHEFORLAUGHING!!!!!

[Tom Maddox]

Re: Geography

Central America is not a continent. Also, the Central Americans I talked to while living in Guatemala all indicated that they didn't consider Mexico part of Central America, possibly because they Mexicans take the same attitude towards Central Americans sneaking in as the US does with regard to Mexicans, except the Mexican border guards beat the shit out of people sneaking across then throw them back.

[Alan Denman]

Are they real?

So trampling all over everyone does not work all the time.

From the limited info given justice looks served though reality might actually differ.

[MikeyD85]

Wtf!?

Apple....lost!?

GO MEXICO!

[NoneSuch]

Maybe a few days of being on the naughty step will make the changes that need to be made in that company.

[Caltharian]

I wonder if one day "Apple" will come up with their own trademarks to use instead of stealing other companies

Apple

Ipad

Iphone

all registered trademarks of other companies which Apple have been forced to throw money at

[JaimieV]

iOS too.

[dssf]

In Korea, there are Apple locations, .

but they seem to be guitar shops or something, maybe even music. There are "Concierge" stores, and those sell apple wares.

Not sure there is an actual "Apple" store in SK. There must be, though... Right?

[JeffyPooh]

Re: In Korea, there are Apple locations, .

There's an Apple Store in a local mall. Siri doesn't know anything about it, so offers up several other non-gadget local stores bearing the word Apple in their name or selling fruity produce. It's quite funny and highly indicative of just how poorly Apple is doing recently in the Attention To Details department.

[Captain TickTock]

Steeenkin'

I think you mean

[TwistUrCapBack]

hooray

thats all

[Radelix]

HAHAHAHAHHAhHAHA

See title

[ContentsMayVary]

Just wait until they try to grab iPlayer over here. :)

[Darryl]

or iTV

[Dan Paul]

Nelson says "Ha Ha" ; Now that what I call "An I for an I"

Justice has been served, goes to show everyone that being a bully sometimes comes back to bite you square in the ass.

[Shooter]

Re: Nelson says "Ha Ha" ; Now that what I call "An I for an I"

Upvoted just 'cause I liked the pun in your title.

[stragen001]

Apple's habit of launching aggressive lawsuits is starting to bite it on the bum <---- This

Oh, and Hahahahahahahahahahaha

[cyke1]

yea it works to start with but after a while cases get more frivolous and then cases like these cross the desk and you start see what a company like apple is really about. Trying to steal other companies trademarks in light of day, like they did on that Europe clock makers design. A lot of people have been sick of apple since the whole BS vs Samsung case which anyone with half a brain see's that case for what it really was. You can't sue other companies without it coming back against you, just like the Samsung suit against apple over apple using LTE patents and refusing to pay for them.

[Will Godfrey]

It's just so good to see insufferable arrogance properly rewarded.

I suppose they will now follow up with a petulant sulk and ignore their critics... again.

[Darryl]

How arrogant

"Yes, you've had the name iFone registered for four years longer than we've had the name iPhone registered, but we're Apple, so we're going to force you to change your name, because, well, we're Apple, and we can do no wrong."

Reminds me of the NHL's Minnesota Wild. One of the first things they did when the team was named was to send a cease-and-desist letter to a nature group in Manitoba, Canada, who'd had the nerve to publish a magazine named 'Wild' for years before the team existed.

Love to see this kind of arrogance beaten down.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: How arrogant

...or when the American fake wrestlers sued the panda people...

(Yes, ok, maybe they should have merged and wrestled pandas, but that's another issue..)

[john 112]

awesome

Thats good news. so having the name first counts, even when being sued by a company with more money than that you have? What a concept.

[Darryl]

Re: awesome

Only if you're not in the US

[Oninoshiko]

Only would have been better if

the Judge had said "just change your name, no big deal"

[stupormundi]

I wish to express my contentment.

_♥_♥___♥_♥_

♥___♥_♥___♥

_♥___♥___♥_

__♥ .____ ♥__

___♥___♥___

____♥_♥____

_____♥_____

Viva Mexico!

[henrydddd]

Ifphone

This is the best news that I have heard this week! I hope that Apple continues to get bashed in all of its future suing.

[Anonymous Coward]

Would anyone like another slice..

..of this delicious schadenfreude cake?

First the UK apology apology, now this. Karma's gonna getcha.

Eventually.

[Esskay]

I can only hope

That Apple continues to launch frivolous and arrogant lawsuits - I love reading these stories...

[Whiznot]

Apple Computer is lucky that Apple Records let them off the hook decades ago. Funny how the lawyers always win and everyone else loses.

[Alan Brown]

Part of the settlement with Apple Records was that Apple Computer would not engage in selling recordings.

It's no concidence that the default apple mac beep was called "sosueme"

[John Savard]

1998

1998: that was the year that Apple came out with the iMac. All these other non-Apple iSomethings are brand squatters. Yes, you can't trademark a letter, but a small letter preceding a capital letter like that is distinctive.

So I think Apple is the victim here, even if some of its other lawsuits are unfortunate (if, sadly, not baseless).

[vagabondo]

Re: 1998

I worked for a company that used the "iCHIP" brand name in 1983, and I'm sure it was not the first.

Apple were just chancing there arm and throwing their weight around. The only valid complaint they could have had would have been if iFone was trying to pass off a device as an Apple product.

[MJI]

Re: 1998

You cannot trademark Hungarian notation

[gkroog]

I laughed.

I laughed all the way through this story. How arrogant of Apple to march into another country, and for "Apple's lawyers decided iFone's Mexican Class 38 mark wasn't being actively used, and they filed a lawsuit to try and get it canceled so they could register their own pending Class 38 mark on 'iPhone.' " (as per the article referenced by darkpill, comment 22).

Who cares if the don't use their brand name? They registered it! It's THEIRS! I'm sure if some company started selling something in the US, and they wanted to use a name for it similar to one of Apple's trademarked names, Apple would soil their pants and start yelling.

As it has been pointed out, Apple clearly thought they could get away with whatever they wanted, until a judge with little regard for Apple's PERCEIVED "coolness" (I've never found Apple to be especially cool...) smacked them down: "But the petition was denied after authorities found that iFone - a provider of software for call centers - had registered its trade name in Mexico in 2003, four years before Apple did. Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/01/apple-loses-iphone-case-in-mexico/#ixzz2B9m5xeD6).

Clearly being nurtured in Steve Jobs' reality distortion field hasn't prepared Apple for the realities of doing business in coutries that don't think America is the be-all-and-end-all...

[gkroog]

I laughed.

I laughed all the way through this story. How arrogant of Apple to march into another country, and for "Apple's lawyers decided iFone's Mexican Class 38 mark wasn't being actively used, and they filed a lawsuit to try and get it canceled so they could register their own pending Class 38 mark on 'iPhone.' " (as per the article referenced by darkpill, comment 22).

Who cares if the don't use their brand name? They registered it! It's THEIRS! I'm sure if some company started selling something in the US, and they wanted to use a name for it similar to one of Apple's trademarked names, Apple would soil their pants and start yelling.

As it has been pointed out, Apple clearly thought they could get away with whatever they wanted, until a judge with little regard for Apple's PERCEIVED "coolness" (I've never found Apple to be especially cool...) smacked them down: "But the petition was denied after authorities found that iFone - a provider of software for call centers - had registered its trade name in Mexico in 2003, four years before Apple did. Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/11/01/apple-loses-iphone-case-in-mexico/#ixzz2B9m5xeD6).

Clearly being nurtured in Steve Jobs' reality distortion field hasn't prepared Apple for the realities of doing business in coutries that don't think America is the be-all-and-end-all...

[lauri_hoefs]

Re: I laughed.

Or... iLaughed!

[Nanners]

If I were apple

I simply would not sell apple products in Mexico. It would hurt Mexico more than apple. Eventually Mexico would come knocking at Cupertino's door.

[P. Lee]

Re: If I were apple

I can't imagine how not buying Apple products would hurt Mexico.

Far better to sell something where the local reseller makes some cash.

[MatsSvensson]

Stupid poetic justice!

[Nanners]

If I were apple

If the rest of the world is using apple products and Mexico isn't. Eventually they are going to get left behind. The mexican people will be doing what they can to get thier hands on apple products etc. Mexico will eventually have to work something out with apple. Just an observation is all. Flame away.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: If I were apple

Left behind in what way? I do not believe there is any technology area in which Apple is actually a leader, other than efficient packaging. A pretty UI is not the same as a feature set, and people outside California can often be capable of figuring things out for themselves.

OK, Apple make a very high resolution laptop. Please advise what I could do on it that I cannot do on my i7, 16G of RAM, 1920 by 1080 Windows 7 laptop, that would cause a Mexican to be seriously embarrassed if he had to use it?

Nobody actually needs to work anything out with Apple. Or Samsung. Microsoft, on the other hand, is a different matter since a Microsoft ban would seriously affect multinationals. And no, I don't work for Microsoft, but I have to use their products because our customers want it. No customer has ever asked me to use an iPhone or a Powerbook, though I have had the occasional query about whether I have a Blackberry PIN.

[Nanners]

Re: If I were apple

You are obviously one of those people that likes the frustration and time wasted on a operating system that is built cheaper, not better. A quantity not quality kind of person. The kind of person who believes the only thing you have to do to compete with apple is make similar quality hardware. Windows is installed in the email and Facebook environment for one reason only... They made it cheap, and you get what you pay for. If big business operators were very bright at all, they would realize that it takes employees three times longer to do ANYTHING on a windows machine, which is worth the upgrade to apple in savings on labor ALONE. Not to mention the hardware lasts for decades... Now as far as doing what you can't do a competitor, well let's just start with the fact that my mom uses an android and I cannot send her pictures over texts, which really cuts her off from the rest of the family. If you saw what I do with my first generation iPad, well, lets just say it cannot be done on android or any other windows yet. I'd love to be able to save a buck by using something not apple, but I simply don't have a choice, because competitor tablets and phones are made to check email and hang on Facebook, and they don't even do that very well. I can do so much more with my iPad. I have said it a million times. It's about the apps. The thing is useful and thoughtful and gives consideration to the end user. I could go all day long with you over this but why, you are that kind of person.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: If I were apple

That's complete rubbish. We have both Mac and PC for mobile development (because we have to, thanks Apple) and there is no difference in working speed. If you believe that employees are somehow able to use Photoshop, Excel, Word etc. three times faster on a Mac, then you re simply a fantasist who has never done any actual office work. And if you think that you can run SQL Studio (or a whole lot of other development tools) on OS X, you are crazy.)

As for "lasts for decades", in the days when we used Macs I was regularly scrapping hardware after a few years because the latest OS would not longer run, or some extremely expensive part failed and the repair wasn't worth it. I ended up taking half a dozen Macs, all under five years old, to the dump because I couldn't even shift them on eBay. Whereas someone out there is still using my 10 year old Thinkpad.

This applies to the latest iPhones and iPads, which have lithium polymer batteries with a life of about 3 years and require factory replacement of batteries at high prices.

So tell us - what do you do with your iPad that you cannot do on the competition? Watch Flash animations in the browser? Watch widescreen movies in the correct aspect ratio? Get accurate mapping? Have a properly integrated messaging and notification centre like a Blackberry?

[Mr.Mischief]

Karma is a beetch eh?

iCaramba

[Anonymous Coward]

yet another sensationalist editor at El Reg

Anna Leach another sensationalist editor at El Reg. It isn't bad enough to provide articles filled with prejudice and FUD. Now we can add incorrect lies too.

Great. Another 'improvement' as if things aren't bad enough.

[Uwe Dippel]

Not so fast ...

According to Süddeutsche Zeitung, referring an article in The Verge, all this is untrue and just bullocks: No judgement was handed out, Apple may sell, etc.

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/digital/apple-rechtsstreit-in-mexiko-ifone-gewinnt-gegen-iphone-1.1513145-2

Though I would love to pop the cork. On Apple kicking the bucket.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not so fast ...

No one said they were kicking the bucket… but they have lost their right to exclusive use of the term iPhone, that belongs to iFone Mexico.

What this will mean is that Apple will have to seek a license from iFone to sell their smartphones under the iPhone branding in Mexico. iFone can always say no too.

[jai]

shame Anna didn't pause to research the facts before posting her vindictive article

turns out, this article is almost completely wrong. you kinda expect this kind of shabby journalism from the tabloid press, but El Reg is supposed to be a tech site that knows what it's talking about - instead we get this poorly researched regurgitation of other people factless articles.

if you want the real information on this story, you're going to have to look elsewhere:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/2/3591380/iphone-ifone-and-apples-mexican-trademark-standoff-whats-really-going

[AdamChew]

Not so

Kind of wonder why people are so fast in knocking Apple over everything and I am not surprise when they have an accident they will blamed Apple for it.

Sorry it is not so iPhones are still being sold in Mexico.

[Anonymous Coward]

¿Como se dice iphone?

isn't "i" an "e" or "eh" sound in spanglish? I bet this was a riot listening to these court cases, if apple don't watch out they could up losing their a,e,i,o,u-phone's why not add Y and W, for grievence the new ePPLe e-Phony get it hehe

Oh man what a mess, comedians are going to have a ham radio field day plundering this, I see someone already got "mi gusto iphone"

Senior iPhone, ¿Que pasa la bullshit? ¿ y Donde esta tu cabesa ? No mas nombre, y audios tus bendejos

You also have to appreciate the brevity of the "Fone" part of "ifone", at least I do, what with all these wasted characters "PH" the Mexicans get straight to business and replace it with an "F" , That's the signs of efficiency and intelligence by a precognitive group of people. It's less ink, less paint, everything about it screams old school Volkswagen engine tune-up, just a wire and a bulb bitch. " iFONE " where you need a dwell meter, timing gun, computer analyzer one your piece of crap more than 8 wires to the engine car or the .

" iphone " with the enhanced crap antenna.

I am glad to see some sanity comes to this name wars once in awhile, well I wish it was more often.

Who the heck is stupid enough to confuse iphone with ifone?

willing to admit you are that stupid? I mean this is nothing like looking for a GeForce driver when along comes a drive by cartoon shooting G-Force to munge up your searches especially when concerning 3D!

10 million hits later, I'm left scratching my head wondering how if would be different if they called it M-Force? Maybe Disney would toss a couple lawyer grenades in there too huh?

[menotu]

Apple could rename it the iGringo

[Steady Eddy]

¡Ay, ay, ay!

¡No es bueno!

[unwarranted triumphalism]

Well

I won't join in the racism-fest and make any ill-advised jokes about Mexico, or Mexican people. That would be unwise.

But I should perhaps point out that Apple is THE WORST COMPANY EVER and they are the ONLY client of notorious child-labour enthusiasts Foxconn, and are also the only corporation to undertake ethically questionable acts in the pursuit of profit, such as aggressive lawsuits, lying, polluting, etc. I wish to make it plain that NO OTHER corporation would EVER consider such DESPICABLE acts, and the fact that Apple has done things like this makes them WORSE THAN HITLER, or something.

Also, their products are the WORST EVER. Did you know, for example, that no iPod can play MP3s, or that no iPhone is capable of making or receiving phone calls? Their so-called general-purpose computing products are no better. The cheapest one is over £3 million, and that doesn't even include a CPU! That's ANOTHER £5 million, at the very least. To get a computer of equivalent performance from anyone else it will cost you about 5p, so there's no reason EVER to choose an Apple product.

(I just thought I'd sum up everything relevant to Apple in one post, so you can all get back to your racism).

[Alan Brown]

not just Mexico

Back in the '90s an outfit in NZ was touting an "iPhone" which was simiar to those 'orrible Amstrad emailer thingies. While the device died thanks to the importers being twats and expecting individual ISPs to buy a dedicated Sparcstation AND fork out a £20k license for the controller software (they all refused(*)), the trademark was still in force when Apple showed up with their device of the same name....

(*) One NZ university setup an experimental test server in the CS department, which got forgotten about and when they retired the machine it was on the resellers found themselves in the unenviable position of having to give 100% refunds on every device they'd sold over a 5 year period. Yes, the things had been marketed without anyone bothering to setup a commercial agreement to run a server.

[Anonymous Coward]

Register, please fix the story. It's not accurate.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/2/3591380/iphone-ifone-and-apples-mexican-trademark-standoff-whats-really-going

[James Gosling]

Probably be easier and cheaper....

If Apple just bought iFone!

[Chingatch]

Aye Carumba Phone?

taken? How about Ai Yi Yi Phone?

[Bronek Kozicki]

here is a little game for you

1. try different international two letter code, appended after http://www.apple.com/

2. grant yourself 1 point when you spot iPhone advertised in the main section of page

3. grant yourself additional 100 points when you spot iPhone advertised in the main section of /mx page

How much points do you have? You at least 101 to win :)