Apple is expected to lose its rights to use the iPhone name in Brazil due to a forthcoming decision from a patent and trademark office.
Reuters reported that the Brazilian Institute of Intellectual Property is set to award an exclusive iPhone name trademark to the Brazil-based electronics firm, Gradiente, next week.
Gradiente had originally filed for the naming rights to the iPhone in 2000, seven years before Apple's flagship device launched. However, it only recently launched a slate of Android-powered smartphones under the "iPhone" moniker. Gradiente stressed that it had secured the legal rights to the name until 2018.
Back in 2007, months before the iPhone's release, Apple faced a legal battle with Cisco Systems over the naming rights to the "iPhone" in the United States. The latter said it contacted Apple regarding the name on multiple occasions; it even went as far as utilizing a shell company to attempt to acquire the moniker. Ultimately, though, the two firms settled during February of that year.