We reported earlier this week that Apple had lost exclusive rights to the ‘iPhone’ trademark in Brazil to a local company, Gradiente that sells an Android phone they call the iPhone. Now, Apple has reportedly appealed the decision made by the Brazilian Institute for Industrial Property (INPI).
According to Folha de São Paulo, Brazil’s major daily newspaper, Apple has appealed INPI’s decision on the grounds of forfeiture.
Apple’s argument is that Gradiente, the owner of the ‘iPhone’ moniker in Brazil, did not use the name within the legal limit of five years after it was granted the trademark in 2008.
Gradiente will now have 60 days to prove that it had indeed launched a product called the ‘iPhone’ or risk losing the trademark.
Reportedly, Gradiente was selling its Neo-One handset since 2000, then last year, it redesigned the device and released it as the ‘G-Gradiente iphone’ as seen above.
Apple was faced with a similar predicament in China last year, as a Chinese firm, ProView, claimed it owned the iPad trademark in China. The Cupertino firm eventually settled the dispute for $60 million.
