MEXICO CITY–Mexico's intellectual property agency said Friday it has ruled in favour of a small local firm's rights to the "iFone" name, saying that ads for Apple's iPhone have encroached on the trademark.The Mexican firm iFone SA de CV registered the name in 2003 to cover specialised telephone service for call centres and businesses, well before Apple registered the similar iPhone moniker in 2007 for its popular mobile handset. iFone doesn't make mobile telephones.
Mexico's Institute for Intellectual Property ruled that the two names are phonetically identical, and thus there was a trademark encroachment.The institute said several Mexican mobile phone carriers must pay a fine of about US$104,000 and stop using "iPhone" as a promotional name for their calling plans.But Apple is not specifically covered by the ruling, since it doesn't provide calling services, just handsets.
AP