I was talking to my colleagues awhile back about Apple’s impending Macworld keynote address and what Steve Jobs big announcement would be. We all agreed that it would more than likely be around their entry into the mobile phone market, however I had suggested that they would not be able to call it the ‘iPhone’ as I had vaguely recalled that I had read some where sometime ago that it was already trademarked. Anyway, Tuesday the 9th came and sure enough Steve Jobs announced Apple’s foray into the mobile market with an amazing cool product, yes duly called the ‘iPhone’. I was beginning to question my own sanity, as I am sure my colleagues were as well! I was full sure that I had read an article outlining that ‘iPhone’ was already a registered trademark. But thankfully I am not going senile, as today I read that CISCO is now suing Apple over its use of the ‘iPhone’ trademark. Seemingly, the world’s largest network-equipment maker, has owned the trademark on the name ‘iPhone’ since 2000, when it acquired InfoGear Technology Corp., which originally registered the name. I think it will be interesting to see how this case develops as the ‘i’ provides a powerful and cohesive brand for Apple’s product portfolio. Will their phone have the same market penetration success as the iPod did if they are required call it something different?