Brazilian phone maker takes a bite out of Apple

Gradiente wins exclusive right to the iPhone brand name
Raphael Michilis Fonseca

The Brazilian IPHONE was launched in December 2012
and had been registered since 2000, seven years before
 Apple launched its first smartphone

The Brazilian National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) has given Gradiente the exclusive right to use the iPhone brand name in that country. The INPI's decision will be officially released in the magazine Revista da Propriedade Intelectual on 13 February. 

Now it is up to the Gradiente to decide whether Apple can continue using the iPhone brand in Brazil.

Neither company has yet released a public statement concerning the INPI's ruling. 

The Brazilian electronics manufacturer, controlled by IGB Eletrônica, registered the brand name in 2000, seven years before Apple launched their game changing device that has since gone on to earn the company billions. The registration gave Gradiente  came with a launching deadline of january 2013
In order to maintain exclusive rights to the brand, Gradiente was required to launch its IPHONE by January of this year. The company just beat the clock by releasing it in December 2012, just one month before the deadline.  

This is not the first time Apple face legal battle over its biggest brand name. It already had to make deals with Cisco, who held the rights over the name in the USA.

The company founded by Steve Jobs filed registration of the brand in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011. Two years ago Apple obtained authorization to market the name linked to shoes, clothing and instruction mauals.