Brazilian regulators have ruled that Apple doesn’t have exclusive rights to use the “iPhone” trademark in the country. The decision is the result of a local company, Gradiente Eletronica, registering the name in 2000, seven years before the US firm.
A spokesman for Apple declined to comment. However, the Institute of Industrial Property told the “BBC” (http://tinyurl.com/aowv3tq) that it understood Apple was pursuing an appeal.
Gradiente, a Brazilian electronics company, had first requested to trademark “iPhone” as their brand back in 2000 before Apple’s smartphone was unveiled. Last week the Brazilian Institute for Industrial Property (INPI) gave Gradiente that exclusivity in 2008 for their G-Gradiente iPhone, which runs the Android operating system.
