Apple is facing a potentially very costly and frustrating trademark battle in Brazil

Apple is facing a potentially very costly and frustrating trademark battle in Brazil over use of the name iPhone. As it currently stands, Apple does not hold the trademark on iPhone in Brazil, and has just had its request to register it rejected.The reason for the rejection is another company having previously registered the name as a trademark. IGB Electronica applied for the iPhone trademark in the year 2000. It was granted in 2008. In Brazil, whoever applies for a trademark first gets it, but then has to use it within 5 years.Apple plans to contest that since 2008 IGB has not used the iPhone trademark. However, the 5 year deadline ended with 2012, and IGB states it launched the iPhone Neo One Android smartphone in December. If you want one, you have to purchase it directly from the company through its website or from a single shopping location in Sao Paulo at a cost of $304.

The bad news for Apple is that if the release of the iPhone Neo One counts as using the brand, and therefore the trademark, IGB will retain the trademark until at least 2018.The National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) now has 60 days to respond to Apple’s challenge and give a verdict. If it sides with IGB, then Apple has a choice: stop using the iPhone name for its smartphones in Brazil, or head into a very costly and prolonged legal battle centering around intellectual property rights.Apple has enough money on hand to fight any legal battle, for many years, but this is one it definitely wants to avoid. The fate of the iPhone in Brazil is unclear, but if the INPI decision is unfavorable, Apple may be able to pay IGB in a bid to secure a transfer of the trademark, or at least attain some form of license to use it.