In Canada, “bacon” can mean meat that’s crispy or soft. The term “iPhone” could cause similar confusion there with three companies claiming rights to the name.
Toronto-based Comwave Telecom said Monday that it has used the name iPhone since 2004 for a bundle of Internet telephony hardware and services. Comwave president Yuval Barzakay said in an interview that his company’s so-called “first use” of the name supersedes Apple right to the term iPhone. It’s the latest controversy surrounding Apple’s long-awaited gadget, whose name is also a Cisco trademark in the United States. The phone, with a starting price of $499 in the United States, represents a high-profit product not just for Apple but for wireless companies that will sell them.