With the intention of releasing a new phone, a Brazilian electronics company applied for the trademark "G Gradiente iphone" in 2000. However, its registration was only approved in 2008.
The first iPhone was introduced in 2007.
iPhone Trademark Dispute
According to the reports [1,2] by 9to5Mac, IGB Eletrônica's (also known as Gradiente) registration for the trademark "G Gradiente iphone" wasn't approved until 2008, by which time Apple's iPhone had already been released.
However, upon releasing the "Gradiente iphone" Android smartphone in 2012, Brazil's trademark authority, the National Institute of Industrial Property, was contacted by Apple to annul Gradiente's registration of the trademark.
The tech giant argued at the time that prior to the success of the iPhone, the local company had never used that brand (iphone). Hence, Apple claimed that Gradiente chose to use the "iphone" brand as a result of the popularity of the already well-known iPhone.
It should be noted that Gradiente ultimately lost the exclusive rights to the "iphone" trademark. In 2020, the company appealed to the Brazilian Supreme Court, and claimed that invalidating the "Gradiente iphone" trademark is a "violation of free enterprise, free competition, and trademark protection."
9to5Mac noted that the once-famous Brazilian company is currently undergoing judicial reorganization.
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Gradiente's Appeal to the Brazilian Supreme Court
As previously mentioned, the Brazilian Supreme Court decided to accept the appeal of the local company against Apple regarding the trademark back in 2020.
Augusto Aras, the general prosecutor of Brazil, said on Friday that although Gradiente submitted a trademark application for "iphone" in Brazil years before Apple unveiled its smartphone, the Apple's iPhone is a significant player in the global market. Therefore, he argued that trademark rights cannot merely depend on who registered the mark initially for this reason.
The prosecutor claims that the "supervening context" in this case needs to be taken into account, as per 9to5Mac.
The Brazilian Supreme Court will make the final judgment about which company will be granted full rights to the iPhone trademark in Brazil. 9to5Mac noted that Aras's statement has been sent to the Brazilian Supreme Court.
This Is Not the Only Instance in Which Apple Sued Other Companies Over a Trademark Dispute
Prepear is an app that simplifies meal planning, grocery delivery, and recipe discoveries. Due to the app's logo, which Apple claims has too many similarities to its own brand, the tech giant sued the developers of the app.
In an Instagram post, the company said that Apple "has decided to oppose and go after our small business' trademark saying our pear logo is too close to their apple logo and supposedly hurts their brand".
It also stated that the tech giant "has opposed dozens of other trademark applications filed by small businesses with fruit related logos," even when the logo or industry differs from those of Apple.
However, 9to5Mac pointed out that an agreement between the companies allowed Prepear to retain its logo as long as the fruit leaf was slightly different from Apple's.
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