Apple and Comwave Telecom Inc. announced today that they have reached an agreement over the use of the trademarked name “iPhone” in Canada. Comwave had used the term since 2004 for VoIP services and products it offered.
As soon as Apple announced the iPhone in January 2007, the two companies knew that they would need to reach an agreement. Comwave moved quickly to file documents to assert its trademark and the lawyers got to work. But it still took two years to reach an agreement.
In the U.S., Apple reached a similar agreement with Cisco soon after it announced the first generation iPhone.
With the publicity and media attention that the Apple iPhone received, Comwave recognized that using the name for themselves would only cause confusion. It’s no surprise then that, with the agreement, Apple will receive the sold rights to the iPhone name in Canada and that Comwave will phase out its use by November 9th in favour of a new brand. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.