Canadian iPhone vs US iPhone
p2pnet news | Mobiles:- If you’re a Canadian Macolyte anxiously awaiting the arrival of your new locked-up, tied-down iPhone, take a deep breath:
It’ll be a while yet.
Canada’s Comwave Telecom has been using ‘iPhone’ since 2004 to sell an online phone service and it isn’t about to let Apple take the name over.
The company has now, “filed its opposition with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, or CIPO, to Apple’s trademark application for the proposed use of a handheld and mobile device called the iPhone in Canada,” says the CBC, going on:
“The dispute, currently under review, could further delay the Canadian arrival of the Apple iPhone …”
Not only but also, Stevarino still has to strike a deal with a Canadian carrier under which users will be forced to use that carrier, and only that carrier.
Just like in the US of A and Europe.
An unhappy American punter is suing Apple in a new class-action which says Apple and AT&T intentionally broke the iPhones of customers who’d unlocked or installed third-party applications, “also claiming both firms conspired from the start of their partnership to illegally monopolize portions of the mobile cell phone market,” p2pnet posted yesterday.
Says the CBC story:
Comwave president Yuval Barzakay told CBC News that sharing the trademark would not be practically possible, however, because of the reach and extent of Apple’s brand marketing.
“The force they put into marketing would quickly make the brand Apple’s and not ours,” he said. “It’s a case of hijacking the brand. If I asked people on the street who owns the iPhone trademark in Canada, they’d all say Apple. And their product isn’t even in the market. So co-existence is not possible.”
Meanwhile, Apple has one of two choices, the story has Barzakay saying: “they can either walk away from the trademark and let us keep the iPhone name here in Canada, or they can buy the brand from us.”
Also See:
since 2004 – Canada’s iPhone, January 28, 2007
CBC – Trademark dispute could further delay Apple iPhone in Canada, October 11, 2007
unhappy American punter – 2nd iPhone ‘bricking’ class action, October 11, 2007
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October 12th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
The main reason behind the delay is Rogers refusing to budge on giving Canadians an affordable Unlimited data plan. They profit endlessly by charging $250/mo for all the Blackberry users with a mere 200mb of monthly bandwidth. With such price gouging, why the heck would Rogers suddenly ever give us what people in Europe and America have had for years now? We’ll all be dead and gone before Rogers ever gives us an Unlimited data plan for $25. Teddy and his company sits in and rakes in the millions, while grossly overfunding Toronto’s pitiful sports teams.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
I dont know if it will ever hit the Canadian market. I have a pocket pc and it works just as good as the iphone. But the thing that sucks is Im on Telus and the data plan is 25 bucks for I think 10mb it might even be 4. I hardly ever use it so right now I cant remember. Most the time Im can pick up Wifi so I use that. I dont think any of the providers would want to give customers more data usage for free.
As far as the rights to the iPhone. I think it should be the EhPhone for Canada.
March 12th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Tycoon Rogers and ‘Legitimate businessman’ Barzakay have completely killed any hope of a non-cracked Apple iPhone coming to Canada for a very long time — if ever.
Most Canadians will believe it’s Apple’s fault. That’s too bad.