Apple is so protective about its trademark. At one point, the late Steve Jobs said he was even willing to wage a thermonuclear war against Android for apparently stealing ideas off the iOS. It’s no wonder that the tech giant filed a trademark complaint against the local brand MyPhone for apparently riding on the iPhone popularity. In the end, the MyPhone prevailed.

The trademark case started way back in 2009, but the majority of the public was kept unaware until Solid Group, the company behind the MyPhone brand, recently revealed that the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) of the Philippines had dismissed the case.

According to the IPO, the “iPhone” and “MyPhone” does not cause confusion among consumers despite their phonetic and orthographic similarities. And just because Apple is using “phone” in its iconic brand of smartphones doesn’t necessarily mean it holds exclusive rights to a word that commonly refers to mobile phones and related devices. MyPhone has also been using brand recognition that’s quite distinct from Apple. Seriously, have we Filipinos ever mistaken one for the other?

It’s also worth noting that Solid Group applied to register the MyPhone brand before Apple even got to sell its first-generation iPhone in the US.

[Source: ABS-CBN]

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