Good morning! Today, we’re talking about a landmark intellectual property case involving Apple. How Brazilian diplomacy failed to protect Jair Bolsonaro’s interests in Washington. And the state of private investment in Brazil.
☕ If you like our work and want to give us an extra boost, you can fill up our reporters’ coffee mugs. Supporters get exclusive perks! Find out more.
Brazil’s prosecutor general sides with Apple in trademark lawsuit
Earlier this month, Brazil’s Prosecutor General Augusto Aras recommended that the Supreme Court rules with Apple in a decade-long trademark battle over the name “iPhone.”
The case. Apple is in a legal fight with ailing Brazilian tech producer IGB (formerly known as Gradiente), which applied for the trademark of the name “iphone” in 2000.
- The trademark would only be granted in 2008, one year after Apple launched the first iteration of its now iconic smartphone.
- Last year, the two companies ended a 20-session round of negotiations without a settlement.
What they are saying. Apple requests IGB’s trademark be lifted as its iPhone would have “secondary meaning,” that is, when a brand is so associated with a product that it becomes a term to refer to that product in general (such...