When we talk about the iPhone, we all instantly think of Apple and the iconic smartphone that changed the world in 2007. Apple is iPhone and iPhone is Apple, right? Well, it turns out there is an iPhone that isn’t made by Apple. Here’s the story.
An iPhone before Apple’s iPhone
This story goes back to the year 2000. At that time, the Brazilian company Gradiente registered the name “iPhone” in its country. Six years before Apple unveiled its first iPhone (whose first call was Steve Jobs making a prank call).
When Apple began its own registration process in 2006, as part of one of its most secretive projects, it was already too late in Brazil. In 2008, Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property refused to grant it exclusive rights to the name. As a result, for years the term “iPhone” legally and contentiously coexisted in that territory with two different realities.
Gradiente’s iPhone: same name, different story
What ultimately triggered the dispute with Apple was that in 2012 Gradiente launched its own smartphone under the name “iPhone”. Although with one or two notable differences. The device ran Android 2.3 Gingerbread, had a single-core 700 MHz processor, 384 MB of RAM, 2 GB of storage, and a 1 350 mAh battery. In short, it came with fairly basic specifications and sold for around 127 euros.
After a year of legal battles between the Brazilian company and Apple over the use of the iPhone trademark, in 2013 the Brazilian authorities once again denied Apple exclusive use of the brand.
And a year later, Gradiente announced its new iPhone C600 model, which had a completely new design and was somewhat more advanced. It came with a dual-core 1.4 GHz Snapdragon S4 processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of storage, 3G+ connectivity, a removable 1 900 mAh battery, and was priced at around 217 euros. Still a long way from what Apple was already offering us at that time.
The situation continued to escalate, and Gradiente was even allowed to keep using the name, although with one condition: it had to call it “Gradiente iPhone”. During this time, both companies defended their position. Gradiente pointed to its original registration, while Apple argued that the name was already completely associated with its product worldwide.
In the end, the situation was resolved in Brazil’s higher courts. Gradiente’s original registration was cancelled and a new process was required. Shortly afterwards, a ruling by the Superior Court of Justice found in Apple’s favour. The reasoning was clear: the name “iPhone” already fully fulfilled the functions of a trademark linked to Apple. It identified the product, its origin, its quality, and its advertising value.
An iPhone is more than a name, it’s a symbol
So yes, for a few years there was another iPhone. But in practice there is only one device we can call an iPhone. And that is Apple’s.
This curious Gradiente case shows that a brand goes far beyond a registration or a piece of paper. iPhone is not just a word. It is identity, quality, and global recognition. The meaning of a brand is defined by use, by time, and by the way we all recognise it.
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