Company Owning ‘IPHONE’ Trademark In Brazil Wiling To Sell It To Apple

Brazilian electronics manufacturer IGB Electronica SA that owns the 'IPHONE' trademark in Brazil said it is willing to negotiate selling its rights to the trademark to Apple following the release of a line of Android phones under the name 'IPHONE' in that country.  Bloomberg reports:

The owner of the iPhone trademark in Brazil, IGB Eletronica SA, said it would consider selling the naming rights to Apple Inc.

“We’re open to a dialogue for anything, anytime,” said Eugenio Emilio Staub, chairman of IGB, in an interview in Sao Paulo. “We’re not radicals.”

This week Institute for Industrial Property in Brazil confirmed that IGB has exclusive rights to the trademark 'IPHONE'. Apple had requested to receive exclusive rights for the iPhone trademark in 2006, but the request was not accepted because IGB's iPhone trademark dated back to 2000.

In Brazil, Apple has sold the iPhone for several years, but it appears that the company will have to negotiate with IGB for the exclusive rights to use the 'iPhone' trademark in this country. Last year Apple has been in a similar situation, when Proview Technology, which owned the trademark to "iPad" in China, eventually sold it to Apple for $60 million.