A court in Mexico City denied Apple’s petition to protect the iPhone brand and ruled that iFone, a Mexican software firm, had the rights to that name.
The lawyer for iFone, Eduardo Gallastegui in a statement said it was “the third time Apple lost” which “demonstrates the legal truth” that “iFone is within its full right to use its brand.”
Apple sued the Mexican company in 2009, demanding that it should stop using the name because phonetic similarities causes confusion among users.
The court, however, denied the petition after authorities found out that iFone registered its name in Mexico in 2003, four years before Apple introduced the iPhone to the Mexican market.
Reports say that a local paper quoted Gallastegui as saying that Apple will have to compensate iFone for using the brand name iPhone.
As of this posting, Apple has not released an official statement regarding the matter.
