Apple and Cisco settle iPhone spat

Cisco and Apple have agreed to joint use of the iPhone trademark

Cisco and Apple have come to an agreement about the iPhone trademark under which both companies will use the name.

The pair are free to use the iPhone trademark throughout the world, and will dismiss any pending legal actions.

Precise terms of the deal are being kept secret by both companies, but it has emerged that Cisco and Apple will explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security and consumer/enterprise communications.

Precisely what this means is anybody's guess and has analysts scratching their heads as to what may come out of such exploration.

Zeus Kerravala, a network infrastructure analyst at Yankee Group, believes there are ample opportunities for the companies to dream up collaborative projects to win over consumers.

However, he warned that both firms need to be willing to share in order to make the partnership work. Given that Apple is notoriously guarded about its products, the industry is sceptical about the possibility of collaboration.

The iPhone spat kicked off last month when Cisco sued Apple the day after chief executive Steve Jobs announced the new iPhone at the Macworld expo.  

Discussions over the trademark had been taking place between the companies before Jobs's announcement, but apparently broke down just hours before the official launch.

Cisco's Linksys division introduced a series of seven VoIP devices in December 2006 under the 'iPhone' brand.

• Cisco's iPhone lands in GPL hot seat
• Cisco sues Apple over iPhone brand
• Linksys pips Apple to iPhone