According to reports, an Indian firm called iVoice Enterprise is challenging the iPhone trademark, claiming that it sounds too similar to their “iFon” trademark and that the launch of Apple’s iPhone destroyed any chance of their product from getting off the ground. The company’s managing director V.P. Balaji claims that investors and partners pulled out their support upon the iPhone’s launch.
“The manufacturing and design of the phones were to be outsourced to companies in China and Taiwan. As we wanted to bring out an affordable phone for people across the country, we named it India Phone (iFon),” he claims. He also asserts that the iPhone only made its way into India in 2009, versus 2007 which was when the company was founded.
The company is now petitioning India’s Intellectual Property Appellate Board in hopes of getting the iPhone name removed from the registry. Will they be successful in their attempts? Well the Brazilian company was, so perhaps iVoice might have a chance as well.