Comwave Telecom: In Canada, the iPhone Trademark is Ours!

In the past two weeks, the world of wireless communications has been engulfed in the uncertainty over who originated the iPhone name.

Until now, the conflict of licensing the iPhone label in the U.S. has involved only two corporations: Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems. In Canada, however, Comwave Telecom Inc. has made the claim that the iPhone license has been a registered trademark in Canada for a number of years.

The company based in Toronto Ontario has been marketing voice-over-the-Internet services using the registered trademark iPhone since 2004. Comwave Telecom has also marketed a separate wireless device under the label "iPhone Mobile". (Source: theglobeandmail.com)

Comwave publicly announced their position in the U.S. trademark battle, claiming that the iPhone label had been a Cisco trademark since 2000. Surprisingly, there has been no challenge to Comwave's use of the registered name, even though several sources have agreed that Cisco is well aware that the Canadian services and devices exist.

Furthermore, Comwave does not feel compelled to change the name of their iPhone services and devices just because two large U.S. technological companies want to use the iPhone label for their products as well. (Source: technology.canoe.ca)

Comwave intends to continue distributing their iPhone products until there is interference from a reputable legal counsel instructing them not to do so.

Many industry analysts believe that Comwave has not been pressured to change its name, due to the fact that neither Apple nor Cisco has launched their version of the iPhone in the Canadian market. A desire to expand into the Canadian market was conspicuously absent from the recent news release issued by Apple. (Source: technology.canoe.ca)

The popular Canadian version of Comwave's iPhone is actually a bundle of hardware and services, sold as an alternative to traditional phone service. Currently, the bundle is available in approximately 500 communities all across Canada.