Cisco, Apple settle suit over iPhone

Cisco Systems Inc. and Apple Inc. agreed to share the iPhone brand, settling Cisco’s lawsuit for trademark infringement.

The agreement allows both companies to use the iPhone name and calls for their products to work together in the future, the companies said Wednesday in a joint statement.

The settlement ends a six-week dispute between the Silicon Valley giants and puts Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple on schedule to start selling its combination iPod music player and mobile phone under the iPhone brand in June.

The decision comes two weeks after Apple ended decades of litigation with the Beatles over rights to use the Apple name and logo.

Cisco, the world’s largest maker of computer-networking equipment, claimed last month that Apple’s iPhone violated a trademark owned by the San Jose-based company since 2000.

Apple, which unveiled the device Jan. 9 in San Francisco, called the suit silly because its iPhone differs from Cisco’s Internet-based home phone.