Another iPhone Skin… This Time for BlackBerry

BlackBerry iPhone Skin

Apparently, some people don’t take threats from Apple’s legal team too seriously, because another iPhone skin has just been released, this time for the BlackBerry.

Click on the image to the left to get a larger view. The BlackBerry iPhone skin can be downloaded for free at BlackBerry Theme Central.

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iPhone Price to Drop

iPhoneAnalysts expect the price of the Apple iPhone to start dropping soon after the device is released in June. iSupply senior analyst Andrew Rassweiler predicted a “$229.85 hardware and manufacturing cost and a $245.83 total expense, yielding a 50.7 percent margin on each unit sold at the $499 retail price.”

Apple will initially sell their iPhone units at $499 and $599 to take advantage of the “must-have” buzz surrounding the release, Rassweiler predicted. Price cuts, he said, are inevitable.

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Apple Threatens to Sue Over iPhone Skins

Windows Mobile iPhone Skin

Soon after the iPhone unveiling, a group of excited Apple fans who couldn’t wait ’til June to get their hands on the breakthrough communication device created some “iPhone-looking skins” for their Windows Mobile and Palm smartphones, only to receive a threatening letter from Apple after sharing the skins on the Brighthand forums.

The imitation iPhone skins, which mimicked the look of the iPhone interface but did not add any extra features or functionality to Windows handheld devices, were removed from the site.

Apple also sent a cease and desist letter to Paul O’Brien demanding that he remove from his Windows Mobile community MoDaCo.com a screenshot and link to the iPhone skins.

Apparently, Apple thinks it can silence the press for reporting news it does not like. That’s one way to kill the buzz surrounding a new product.

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Cisco May Have Lost iPhone Trademark in 2006

Public papers from the US Patent and Trademark office may help prove that Cisco Systems lost the iPhone trademark last year, according to Jay Behmke, a trademark law attorney at CMPR.

Cisco did not sign the required Declaration of Use – which states “that you have been using the trademark continuously” in the past six years – until four days before the end of a six-month grace period granted to companies who miss the deadline.

And here’s a photo (thanks to Ed Burnette of ZDNet) that shows the required “copy of a label or other packaging showing the trademark in use” that Cisco sent to the US Patent and Trademark office:

Cisco iPhone Declaration of Use

The word “iPhone” is stickered on to the box, and there is no mention of it visible anywhere on the packaging.

Burnette said if Apple can prove in court that “Cisco did not actively offer a product named ‘iPhone’ between 1999 and December 2006,” then Cisco’s registration could be cancelled, and you can score one for Apple.

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Cisco Sues Apple Over iPhone Trademark

We all saw it coming. Cisco Systems is suing Apple for infringing on the rights to its iPhone name, which it has held in the US since 1996.

Cisco said Apple approached the company a few years ago looking to use the iPhone name, and the two tech giants had been negotiating ever since to come up with some sort of licensing agreement.

Apparently, though, Steve Jobs decided to unveil the iPhone at Macworld before ever finalizing negotiations with Cisco. Upon realizing this, Cisco gave Apple lawyers until the end of the business day to finalize the contract, which they never did. Not surprisingly, Cisco Systems is pissed off and suing Apple now.

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