Euro operators want in on iPhone; Cisco files suit

With Cingular Wireless already announced by Apple Inc. as the exclusive U.S. carrier partner for its pending iPhone launch, overseas operators are now jockeying to land exclusive European rights. According to The Times Online, O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile are all viable contenders for the iPhone contract; Telefónica, O2's Spanish parent company, has reportedly held preliminary discussions with Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Because the iPhone is not 3G-compatible, Hutchison's 3 service is effectively out of the running. Apple plans to launch the iPhone in Britain by year's end.

One firm considerably less smitten with Apple is gear maker Cisco Systems, which has owned the iPhone trademark since its 2000 acquisition of hardware developer InfoGear and just last month released its own iPhone-branded VoIP device through its Linksys division. The New York Post reports Cisco has filed a federal lawsuit in response to Apple co-opting the iPhone name following weeks of intense negotiation over the brand. "We sent them final terms on Monday, but we never got approval back," Cisco spokesman John Noh told the tabloid. "We're very open to sharing the trademark. We made that clear. But then they went ahead and used the name without our permission." Noh declined to elaborate on the terms of Cisco's proposal, but added, "The issue is not about money."

For more on Apple's overseas suitors:
- read this Times Online article

For more on the Cisco suit:
- read this New York Post article