A Mexican telecom company patented the name iFone in 2003. The name iPhone, which the world has now tied to the electronic giant of Apple, was filed in 2007. This four year gap did not stop Apple from filing a lawsuit against the Mexican company, claiming the iFone name is a rip-off of the iPhone brand. However, the 18th District Appellate Court on Administrative (Mexico) has denied the appeal filed by Apple and said that the Mexican company is the rightful owner of the name iFone.

The denial means that Apple will no longer be able to use the name iPhone in the country of Mexico. Unless Apple changes the now universally understood name, it will not be able to sell any iPhones in Mexico. This inability to sell iPhones will have a huge impact on its Mexican market. Coming right before the holiday season, the lawsuit has left Mexico’s Apple market in nothing short of a nightmare state.

Antonio Trevino, CEO of iFone, admitted that the lawsuit affected his company’s growth as they had to divert their attention towards it in order to defend their brand. Apple is no stranger to lawsuits, and has engaged in them regarding the iPhone brand with Cisco and Taiwanese manufacturer HTC in the past.

[Via Muktware]

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Claudia McNeilly writes for the Toronto Standard. You can follow her on twitter at @claudiamcneilly

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