Apple's appeal to overturn a previous ruling against its sole ownership of the "iPhone" trademark in Mexico was rebuffed on Friday, with the Mexican Supreme Court saying a local tech company holds the official rights to the "iFone" name in the country.



From Apple Insider:

he decision is linked to a case first started in 2009 when Apple tried to register the "iPhone" trademark in Mexico, only to be told by the Mexican Industrial Property Institute that the name was already being used by the iFone brand, reports The Wall Street Journal.

In a subsequent suit to garner the trademark, Apple argued that iFone was not making adequate use of the moniker, a requirement to keep the naming rights from expiring. The court handling the case found the iFone was indeed making good use of the name after having registered for it in 2003, some four years before the first Apple iPhone was launched.

  Apple's Mexican 'iPhone' naming rights threatened as Supreme Court upholds 'iFone" ruling