Apple close to settling Brazilian iPhone suit

Remember when we told you all about the Android powered iPhone? It didn’t look like the AppleiPhone, but that device did have the same name. Apple, as you can imagine, wasn’t too happy about it and filed suit to have the device name changed. We’re all used to this by now, Apple suing for one reason or another. The outcome on this one, however, is very different.

Recently, the Brazilian Institute of Industrial Property decided that Apple did not own the exclusive right to the iPhone moniker,  a huge precedent for the Android version built by Gradiente Eletronica SA. Without solid footing by which to have the device name altered or changed altogether, it now seems Apple is willing to enter into an “agreement”.
What is the agreement? Who knows. Maybe, as with HTC, both parties are willing to play nice. Gradiente, now IGB Electronica, filed a patent on the iPhone name back in 2000, a full seven years before the iPhone debut. This “agreement” could signal that Apple understands it has no leg to stand on, and will have to simply deal with the decision. As the largest country in anemerging market, this decision in Brazil is an important one which sets a solid precedent moving forward.