[JURIST] Cisco filed a lawsuit [press release] against Apple, Inc. on Wednesday in federal court, requesting injunctive relief from Apple's use of the name "iPhone," to which Cisco has held the trademark since 2000. Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled [recorded video; press release] Apple's iPhone [product website] at a San Francisco tradeshow on Tuesday, despite not having agreed to the terms proposed by Cisco for use of the name "iPhone." The two companies had been negotiating terms of the deal for several years, and were close to agreeing on terms as late as Tuesday, hours before Jobs made the announcement. A spokesperson for Apple noted that Cisco's iPhone [product materials] does not use a cellular network, as planned for Apple's iPhone, but rather uses the Skype internet phone service, thus making the Apple iPhone materially different and not subject to Cisco's trademark. Jobs also announced Tuesday that Apple Computer has changed their name to Apple, Inc.

Last May, then-named Apple Computer succeeded in a UK lawsuit [JURIST report] brought by Apple Corps, the record label owned by the Beatles and their families, which ruled that Apple Computer did not breach a 1991 trademark agreement with Apple Corps when the computer company began promoting music products. AP has more.