

Apple loses right to iPhone name in Brazil - anigbrowl
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/14/business/apple-loses-iphone-name-brazil/index.html

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networked
I wonder what Apple would do in a hypothetical scenario where a company like
Gradiente Eletronica gets its trademark and doesn't want to settle. I really
can't see them renaming any of their products, so perhaps they'd withdraw from
the market until the problem was resolved. Or not?

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kawera
Gradiente is a dying company, they just want some cash. BTW, they don't make
those phones, only rebrand then.

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olh
> Gradiente is a dying company

Not really. They probably will be one of Brazil's big players in the next 10
years.

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mtgx
Loses right? They never had it to begin with in Brazil. Also, I may not
remember it accurately, but didn't Apple have to buy the rights for the iPhone
name in US from Cisco, too? I don't think it was publicized that much back
then, but I think I remember something along those lines.

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eduardordm
You are correct. Just adding, Brazilian IP law is not similar to the american.
The trademarks must be very specific and cannot be used for more than,
usually, a single product. That said, you can't own a word, you can obtain
exclusivity of naming a specific good (in that case, a cell phone).

I own two trademarks here and guess what, not even the domain name I managed
to reclaim, the owner uses the same name for a different type of business
which I don't own the exclusivity rights.

Brazilian IP law is one of the most free in the word and among many things,
software cannot be patented, non-specific, generic ideas are not even
evaluated for a patent. Music can be freely played and shared unless you are
doing it commercially.

This is why I can't even download bass tabs on most sites, RIAA managed to
block brazilians from 40% of youtube, etc.

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L4mppu
This is what patent laws should be everywhere.

~~~
cfontes
Brazilian here, and I think not...

There are several cases here where an inventor receives no money at all and a
lot of people get rich with it's invention, because of this law.

I think it's too loose and also our courts are terrible, there is a case from
a guy that waited 20 years to win a first instance sue against several phone
companies and after losing it they just appealed... so he will have to wait 10
more years, and probably die or go bankrupt.

Source: [http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/1161871-inventor-do-
bin...](http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mercado/1161871-inventor-do-bina-luta-
por-reconhecimento-e-disputa-direitos-autorais.shtml)

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ozh
This kind of news makes me go "muahaha <evil laugh>".

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adventured
A substantial pain no doubt to have to rebrand the most valuable product on
the planet just for the Brazil market, but given it's such a huge market I'm
sure they'll figure it out.

Apple Phone? iPod Phone? iOS Phone?

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seanmcdirmid
Brazil is one of those very dysfunctional markets. Apple (well Foxcon on
Apple's behalf) had to setup final assembly their directly to get around crazy
tarrif rules, which assume most value is added during final assembly! Sure,
Apple tries its hardest, but at some point it won't be worth it to them.

~~~
eduardordm
I worked for the brazilian IRS for twelve years, I will say you just invented
that.

Imported iphone taxes: 60% import taxes + 7%-15% sales state tax if you are a
reseller or 0% if you are the customer. 0% industrial tax.

Made in brazil taxes: 7-15% sales state tax, 6% industrial taxes.

~~~
kawera
Really?

The 60% rate applies only to individuals; companies generally pays much less
and in the case of cellphones it currently stands at 18.1%.

In which state sales tax (ICMS) is 7%? Or even 15%? All the big states have
ICMS rates north of 20%.

Industrial tax (IPI) for electronics is 8%.

~~~
eduardordm
Really. Those are nominal values which exclude taxes being paid upfront, which
leads to extensive reduction. The legislation is more than 600 pages long
don't you think that a simple google search will get any useful answer.

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personlurking
I would suggest iPhony (how it's pronounced in Portuguese) but that's probably
not a good idea.

It's a tough spot considering they have planned the first official Apple store
to be built in Rio (might already be in the process of being built).

Unrelated anecdote. My audio cable was shot on my MBA and so I asked an
authorized repair shop (in Rio) what they'd fix it for and they said R$475
(roughly US$240). Instead, I bought the piece online from iFixit (US$20) and
took my MBA to a corner repair shop and had it repaired right quick for R$30.
That fixed the issue but, if I were Apple and worried about a product name,
I'd find myself more concerned with products overheating as my computer was
extremely hot on most days, no matter the season.

