The prevailing wisdom after Apple's gala iPhone launch was that Apple and Cisco had worked out a deal whereby Apple could use the iPodian-like name "iPhone."
It was the perfect name for the sleek, expensive phone/audio/video device combo.
Er, uh, nope. Cisco has sued Apple over its use of the moniker which Cisco claims as its own.
Cisco filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, seeking "to prevent Apple Inc. from infringing upon and deliberately copying and using Cisco's registered iPhone trademark."
(Yes, that's Apple Inc., not Apple Computer. That name change also happened Tuesday.)
Cisco obtained the iPhone trademark in 2000. According to a post to its web site, Cisco got the trademark seven years ago after buying Infogear -- which had itself owned the "mark" for iPhone.
At Macworld Tuesday, Apple talked publicly for the first time about iPhone, promptly winning raves from the attending Mac nuts and Wall Street.
Cingular is Apple's exclusive services partner in the venture, but when Cingular threw together a press event in Vegas to trumpet its coup, it became clear that the carrier is just along for the ride. No one from Apple deigned to show.
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