14 DAY TRIAL // Brazil’s Gradiente and US-based Apple Inc. are close to settling a legal dispute involving the iPhone trademark which the former company apparently owns in Brazil. Gradiente sells Android smartphones branded as “iPhone.”
Apple is likely to pay millions for the exclusive right to use the iPhone name in the country, Forbes reports.
Citing Brazil’s largest newspaper, Folha de São Paulo, the finance publication reports that “both companies have agreed to end the lawsuit over iPhone and come to some sort of ‘pacific agreement,’” adding that “Apple has paid millions for its exclusive use of the word iPhone in the past and will likely pay IGB as well.”
Eugenio Emilio Staub, chairman of IGB (Gradiente), gave an interview in Sao Paulo recently. He stated at the time, “We’re open to a dialogue for anything, anytime. We’re not radicals,” he added, referring to a potential discussion with Apple regarding the iPhone mark in Brazil.
IGB is known to have applied for the “iPhone” trademark years before Apple's original smartphone was launched.