Brazil’s copyright regulator will strip Apple Inc of the right to use its iPhone trademark in Latin America’s biggest market and granted the trademark to a local company that registered it first, a source familiar with the decision said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Gradiente Eletronica SA, a Brazilian consumer electronics maker, registered the “iphone” name in 2000, seven years before Apple launched its now virally popular smartphone.<\/p>\n
The Brazilian Institute of Intellectual Property will officially announce its decision on Feb 13, the source said.<\/p>\n
Apple could then challenge the ruling in the Brazilian courts.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson with Apple in Brazil declined to comment.<\/p>\n
With a swelling middle class anxious to go online, Brazil is one of the fastest-growing markets for smartphones in the world.<\/p>\n
IGB Eletronica SA, a company formed after the restructuring of Gradiente, launched its “iphone” line of smartphones last December.<\/p>\n
The Android cellphone is marketed for 599 reais ($302) and comes both in black and white, as does Apple’s.<\/p>\n
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