Brazilian electronics firm IGB Eletronica has launched its own range of Android powered smartphones, which it christened as ‘IPHONE’, and defended itself by saying that it owns the rights to incorporate the name in Brazil.
The first phone in the IPHONE range, called the Geo One, will feature a 3.7in touch-screen display, Android Gingerbread 2.3 operating system, 700MHz processor, 5MP camera, dual-SIM capability, 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth.
The firm, which was established in 2012 following the restructuring of Gradiente Eletronica, had applied for the exclusive rights in Brazil to name its products as ‘iPhone’ in 2000.
The electronics firm will also take the necessary steps to ensure respect towards its brand rights in Brazil, while it has not specified whether that includes filing a lawsuit to put off Apple from using its brand name in the South American country.
The Cupertino-based Apple has, however, been selling its iPhone devices in Brazil which is an important market for it.
Recently, the iPhone maker battled in China over the iPad trademark with Proview and reached a settlement for about $60m.
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