Cisco Systems is suing Apple to prevent it from using the name iPhone for the new smart phone Apple introduced Tuesday at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco.Cisco filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court for Northern California seeking an injunction against Apple using the name. Linksys iPhone CIT300 The name iPhone is a registered trademark of Linksys, a division of Cisco. Linksys picked up the iPhone name when it bought a company called Infogear Technology in 2000. Cisco’s iPhones are telephone handsets designed for use on a voice-over-IP (VoIP) network.The iPhone has proven to be the most talked-about product at this year’s Macworld, and its positive reception has sent Apple’s (AAPL) stock surging over the past two days. The company’s stock closed at US$97 Wednesday, up nearly 5 percent for the day. Apple and Cisco have been in negotiations for about two years over Apple’s desire to license the iPhone trademark, said Cisco spokesman John Noh. When Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone Tuesday at Macworld, Cisco had not yet received a signed trademark licensing agreement from Apple, even though the two companies had been negotiating terms as recently as Monday night. Apple iPhone “Because they have been negotiating with us on licensing the trademark all this time, Apple is acknowledging that we own the name,” said Noh. “Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco’s iPhone name,” said Mark Chandler, senior vice president and general counsel for Cisco. “Today’s iPhone is not tomorrow’s iPhone. The potential for convergence of the home phone, cell phone, work phone and PC is limitless, which is why it is so important for us to protect our brand,” Chandler said.-Robert Mullins, IDG News Service (San Francisco Bureau)Related Links: Cisco’s Linksys—Not Apple—Launches iPhone VoIP Devices Apple, Cingular Partner on iPhoneCheck out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage. Related content News ServiceNow continues workflow platform expansion with Utah release The company also doubles down on its customer success automation efforts, but bucks the trend by omitting GPT. By Peter Sayer Mar 22, 2023 7 mins CIO Build Automation Enterprise Architecture BrandPost Don’t buy into the hype of network observability to realize digital transformation success Just collect the right data and follow it to where it leads you. By Jeremy Rossbach, Chief Technical Evangelist, Broadcom Mar 22, 2023 3 mins Networking Feature How culture and strategic partnerships help fuel transformation Marc Hale, CTO for AIA New Zealand, recently spoke with Cathy O’Sullivan, editor for CIO New Zealand, about navigating the complexities of digital transformation, and focusing on culture to enable healthier outcomes for customers. By CIO staff Mar 22, 2023 7 mins CTO Digital Transformation Change Management Feature 10 things CIOs wish they knew from the start Go slower. Network. Tell stories. Get training. Be kind. CIOs have plenty of advice they’d give to their younger selves if they could. By Martin Veitch Mar 22, 2023 7 mins CIO Careers IT Management Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe