iPhone trademark problem

After hearing just days ago that Apple’s iPhone may be hitting the US as early as January (a date that is looking more and more unlikely) next year, it seems that the company may now have a rather large problem on their hands. Turns out that the Canadian company Comwave have already trademarked the name iPhone and the service – a Skype-like internet phone line – has been in use state-side for the past few years.

Comwave might just manage to swing itself a nice little deal out of this. After all, would Apple’s phone by any other name have the same “must have” qualities? Unlikely. And you’ve got to wonder if Comwave foresaw Apples move into the mobile market. A quick search over at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office shows that it’s not the first company to try and trademark the name, but the only one to succeed.

Via The Inquirer.