The company said it would begin selling its line of smartphones in Brazil under the brand ‘iPhone’. The first model will be called ‘iPhone Neo One’, IGB said in a securities filing. Well, when seen from outside it seems as a clear breach of trademark but delve deeper and there are solid reasons why IGB is yearning after the trademark. IGB, which was formed this year after the streamlining of Gradiente Eletronica SA, had applied for the rights to use the “iPhone” cognomen in Brazil back in 2000 whereas Steve Jobs launched the first device by the name of iPhone in 2007. This means that IGB was the first one to apply for the name ‘iPhone’ not Apple due to which the company believes it has exclusive rights to sell these products under this name. Apple has faced similar obstacles earlier as well. Although IGB has named its Android-based phone iPhone Neo One, in no way is it similar to the iPhone, neither in specifications nor in design.
