Apple loses iPhone trademark in Brazil
The group AntiSec claims to have published over a million Apple IDs, which it says are a small fraction of 12 million it stole from an FBI agent’s computer.
For a company that equates having lots of trademarks with being macho, Apple just suffered a major blow to its ego.
Regulators have ruled that Apple does not have exclusive rights to the iPhone trademark in Brazil. How did this happen? Well, a Brazilian company called Gradiente Electronica registered the iPhone name back in 2000 — before Apple had the chance.
The good news for Apple is that the decision only applies to phones, the BBC says. This means that Apple does have exclusive rights to the iPhone name applied to other items, including in publications and on clothing.
So don't be sad, Apple: if you want to sell cute little dresses with the iPhone logo on them, you're totally allowed to do that.
More from GlobalPost: Apple misses iPhone forecasts
The new iPhone trademark-master, Gradiente Electronica, began selling its iPhone this past December, Bloomberg News reported. The chairman of Gradiente, however, said that he'd consider selling the naming rights.
“We’re open to a dialogue for anything, anytime,” Eugenio Emilio Staub, company chairman, told Bloomberg. “We’re not radicals.” He added that Apple hasn't contact his company yet.
Maybe Apple is feeling too proud to beg.