It looks like Apple is closer to resolving its trademark dispute with Brazil's IGB Electronica, which has rights to use the iPhone name in Brazil, and even sells a phone by the same name under its Gradiente brand. Forbes
cites a report by Folha de Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest newspaper, which claims that both companies have reached some kind of agreement and have decided to temporarily halt the lawsuit over the iPhone trademark.
Apple has previously
paid $60 million to Shenzhen Proview Technology to settle a dispute in China over ownership of the iPad name. So it cannot be ruled out that Apple might be working on a similar settlement with IGB.
Apple had filed a challenge with Brazil's INPI (Institute of Industrial Property) trademark and patent office in a bid to secure the right to sell smartphones with the iPhone name in the giant South American country. In its petition, Apple had argued that Gradiente's rights had expired because it failed to make use of the trademark in the five years after receiving approval. However, the INPI denied Apple registration of the iPhone trademark. Apple can still sell its smartphones in Brazil with the iPhone name, but Gradiente has the option of suing for exclusivity, the institute had said.
Following this, Apple had also
filed a challenge with the Brazilian authority.
Apple had applied for exclusive rights to the iPhone name in Brazil in 2007 when it launched its wildly popular smartphone in the huge Latin American market. But Brazilian manufacturer Gradiente SA had applied to register the brand "Gradiente iphone" in 2000, and was granted rights to it in 2008. It had started selling the IPHONE, an Android powered touch screen smartphone in December 2012.