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This makes me happy. Did you know at least one other corporation had a trademark for the name iPhone before Apple announced their choice of product name in 200

This makes me happy. Did you know at least one other corporation had a trademark for the name iPhone before Apple announced their choice of product name in 2007? Considering what patent trolls Apple is, and considering Brazil is a sizable market for smartphones and computer equipment, this is a tiny bit of karma, as far as I'm concerned. BTW, Xerox has yet to see money for inventing the OS GUI and the modern mouse.

ricardobeat 14y ago
Your comment was fine without the Xerox bullshit - they agreed to let Apple take a peek at their inventions in exchange for a $1m investment. Apple later bought the rights to the Xerox Alto GUI.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
ksherlock 14y ago
Do you mean the infogear/linksys/cisco iphone? The one that was discontinued in 2001? http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1127 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1127 A mark shall be deemed to be “abandoned” if either of the following occurs: (1) When its use has been discontinued with intent not to resume such use. Intent not to resume may be inferred from circumstances. Nonuse for 3 consecutive years shall be prima facie evidence of abandonment. “Use” of a mark means the bona fide use of such mark made in the ordinary course of trade, and not made merely to reserve a right in a mark.
- vacri 14y ago
  Strange that a trademark should only last 3 years of non-active use when copyright is lifetime + 70 years. I guess there's IP and there's IP.
addlepate 14y ago
Ah, I knew someone would come through with a reason why Apple totally deserved this and why it's super awesome. You so rarely disappoint, HN.
astrodust 14y ago
How many individual developers has Apple picked on for patent infringement? None that I can think of. How many patent trolls has Apple stepped in to defend their customers from? Lodsys backed off from attacking App Store developers when Apple said they'd sign on as a co-defendant in any case. How many patent trolls has Nathan Myhrvold created through Intellectual Ventures? Literally thousands. Apple's embroiled in a patent war. Don't confuse that with being patent trolls. You also forget that Xerox remained uninterested in producing a consumer computer incorporating the concepts they pioneered. Likewise, HP, when Steve Wozniak was working there, declined to produce a personal computer he designed.
Capricornucopia 14y ago
"The late Apple chief executive Steve Jobs famously decreed he would go "thermonuclear" to stop Google's Android from allegedly ripping off Apple's products, conveniently forgetting the many instances of Apple "borrowing" from others' IP at Xerox PARC and elsewhere." http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/22/patent_trolls/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/22/patent_trolls/

ricardobeat 14y ago

Your comment was fine without the Xerox bullshit - they agreed to let Apple take a peek at their inventions in exchange for a $1m investment. Apple later bought the rights to the Xerox Alto GUI.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

ksherlock 14y ago

Do you mean the infogear/linksys/cisco iphone? The one that was discontinued in 2001? http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1127 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1127 A mark shall be deemed to be “abandoned” if either of the following occurs: (1) When its use has been discontinued with intent not to resume such use. Intent not to resume may be inferred from circumstances. Nonuse for 3 consecutive years shall be prima facie evidence of abandonment. “Use” of a mark means the bona fide use of such mark made in the ordinary course of trade, and not made merely to reserve a right in a mark.

vacri 14y ago
Strange that a trademark should only last 3 years of non-active use when copyright is lifetime + 70 years. I guess there's IP and there's IP.

addlepate 14y ago

Ah, I knew someone would come through with a reason why Apple totally deserved this and why it's super awesome. You so rarely disappoint, HN.

astrodust 14y ago

How many individual developers has Apple picked on for patent infringement? None that I can think of. How many patent trolls has Apple stepped in to defend their customers from? Lodsys backed off from attacking App Store developers when Apple said they'd sign on as a co-defendant in any case. How many patent trolls has Nathan Myhrvold created through Intellectual Ventures? Literally thousands. Apple's embroiled in a patent war. Don't confuse that with being patent trolls. You also forget that Xerox remained uninterested in producing a consumer computer incorporating the concepts they pioneered. Likewise, HP, when Steve Wozniak was working there, declined to produce a personal computer he designed.

Capricornucopia 14y ago

"The late Apple chief executive Steve Jobs famously decreed he would go "thermonuclear" to stop Google's Android from allegedly ripping off Apple's products, conveniently forgetting the many instances of Apple "borrowing" from others' IP at Xerox PARC and elsewhere." http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/22/patent_trolls/ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/22/patent_trolls/