Disruptive Telephony

You would think that Apple, being as big as they are, would certainly have taken care of the right to use the name "iPhone" before they launched, wouldn't you?  The fact that Apple went ahead and launched anyway really astounds me in light of Cisco's ownership of the trademark.  Instead there is first news of ongoing negotiations and then today's news of a Cisco suit against Apple.  It boggles the mind a bit... I mean, obviously Apple had a very hard deadline of MacWorld, and I could imagine someone at Cisco playing hardball knowing that Apple had to sign before MacWorld and holding out for the best deal. 

But now what?  I mean, now that the product is announced and everyone is all excited about it, what kind of bargaining position is Apple in?  You could easily see someone at Cisco now saying "Well, since the product is going to be so popular, let's add a few more zeros to that licensing agreement price."    Is Apple perhaps counting on public opinion to paint Cisco in a bad light enough that Cisco will relent?  Hard to see that happening, especially given Cisco's own "product launch" of the iPhone name a few weeks ago.  Is Apple thinking that they can always fall back on calling it "applephone" or something like that if Cisco won't give way?

Very strange indeed... it will be interesting to see how this one plays out.

UPDATE: CANOE Money has an article up with more detailed information.