San Jose, Calif. – Cisco Systems and Apple said Wednesday they have settled the trademark-infringement lawsuit that threatened to derail Apple’s use of the “iPhone” name for its much-hyped new iPod-cellphone gadget.
The companies said Apple will be allowed to use the name for its sleek new multimedia device in exchange for exploring wide-ranging “interoperability” between the companies’ products in the areas of security, consumer and business communications.
Cisco has owned the trademark since 2000. Its Linksys division has been using it since last spring on a line of phones that make free long-distance calls over the Internet.
The lawsuit was filed Jan. 10, a day after Apple chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled his company’s iPhone, a multimedia device that operates over the cellular network instead of the Internet.
Negotiations over the name had broken down hours earlier. The sticking point apparently was Cisco’s demand that to use the iPhone name, Apple would have to open up its famously closed products to communicate with some Cisco offerings.
