2023-05-26 18:27:36
Who remembers the case of the Brazilian company Gradient (more specifically, IGB Eletrônica, its parent company) once morest the Apple? After going through all the instances and not being resolved with regarding 20 mediation sessions in the Supremo Tribunal Federalthe plenary of the court decided that the dispute has a constitutional level and that it would be judged by the last instance of the Judiciary of the country.
Well, that day is coming: according to Money Timesthe ministers of the STF will judge the Special Appeal No. 1266095 of General Repercussion in the virtual plenaryfrom day June 2nd, next week. They will have until the day 12/6 to cast their votes and finally resolve this conflict due to the industrial property of the “iPhone” brand in Brazil.
This whole fight began in 2012, when Apple sued Gradiente and asked the National Institute of Industrial Property to annul the registration that the Brazilian company had made of the “Iphone” trademark (with a capital “i”), whose request was made in the year 2000. The INPI, however, only granted it in 2008, one year following the launch of Apple’s original iPhone model.
At the INPI, the trademark “iPhone” is registered as belonging to Apple (process No. 829272747), which was deposited in 2007with a petition from IGB Eletrônica in another process. The Attorney General’s Office has already ruled in favor of the Cupertino giant due to the need to consider the “supervening context and relevant factual changes”.
Since the process began, the economic situation of IGB Eletrônica has been getting worse, even having left a judicial recovery process last week. Even so, Gradiente launched devices with the name “iphone” following the beginning of the legal dispute, although it is notable that they have not achieved great commercial success.
According to the lawyer for the Brazilian company, the group is thinking of re-launching cell phones in the Brazilian market if it wins the battle. The chairman of the board of directors of Gradiente, Eugene Straubalso mentioned in reverse the amount of a possible indemnity to promote national science. The company would also reserved the installment that would be up to each shareholder in a case-win scenario.
In any case, an IGB win scenario seems unlikely. If the other ministers follow the stance of the case’s rapporteur, Minister Dias Toffoli, it will be the end of the line for Gradiente; his report took a favorable view of Apple, as did every lower court that has ever heard the case.
Interestingly, there is another application for registration at the INPI of the “iPhone” trademark, process No. 926242237. To make the situation even more intriguing, the request was made by a private individual last year, and his classification is water and drinks. Whatever this is, there is already a petition from Apple in the process and the registration has not yet been granted, pending the examination of the merits.
Imagine if someone else starts a dispute over the brand? ????
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