Brazilian manufacturer Gradiente said this week it has started to sell a new line of smartphones using Google’s Android operating system under the name “G Gradiente Iphone.” Yes, that’s correct: Gradiente is using Apple’s famous smartphone name for a device running Android — and it seems it has the right to do so.
IGB Eletrônica, which operates under the Gradiente name in Brazil, can sell their handsets under the “Iphone” brand because it is the exclusive holder of the registration rights for that brand in the country.
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“Since Gradiente owns a valid trademark registration in Brazil for the composite mark ‘G Gradiente Iphone,’ the company may launch products in Brazil under such a mark. But they can only use the registered logo and the expression ‘Gradiente Iphone’ as you can see in the trademark registration,” explained Dirceu Santa Rosa, a lawyer specializing in Digital Law.
Gradiente said that in 2000, the company “envisioned that there would be a technological revolution in the world of mobile phones with the convergence of transmission and reception of voice and data through the mobile Internet.” That same year, Gradiente filed for trademark registration with the National Institute of Industrial Property. On Jan. 2, 2008, the federal agency granted Gradiente the registration, and the company now holds exclusive rights for producing and marketing this brand until 2018.
RCR Wireless News contacted officials at the INPI, who confirmed that Gradiente was granted the trademark registration to use the term when referring to cellular telephone apparatus, cellular telephones devices that enable Internet access, for both fixed and mobile telephony, digital antennas, protective cases, batteries, chargers, speakers, and hands-free parts and accessories included in this class.
Apple has some rights to the iPhone trademark in Brazil, including the right to use the word in games, toys, Christmas tree decorations, clothing, headgear and printed materials as well as several other categories.
Apple’s PR team in Brazil did not return RCR Wireless News’ requests for comment by the time of this story.
However, according to Dirceu Santa Rosa, Apple may be able to file a lawsuit in Brazil claiming that its “iPhone” trademark — albeit not registered yet in Brazil for cell phones — has acquired significant “distinctiveness” during the years that the product has been sold in the country. He believes Apple is likely to make such a move against IGB’s Gradiente in the near future.
“Even if Apple can prove that its mark is famous in Brazil, the fact that IGB filed the application in 2000 and has owned this mark since 2008, may be considered by Brazilian Courts as evidence that both marks may be allowed to coexist in the market,” Santa Rosa said.
Gradiente noted that it had not used the Iphone name until now because the company was going through a restructuring process and that was its priority. Gradiente re-entered the mobile phone market this year, following an announcement by the Companhia Brasileira de Tecnologia Digital (CBTD or Brazilian Digital Technology Company), the firm responsible for leasing and managing Gradiente’s marks.
In a statement, Gradiente said that “with its consolidated business model, the company decided it was the ideal time to work with a brand that is appropriate and its rightful property.” 
Gradiente’s first smartphone model on sale under this brand is the Neo One, which runs the Android OS, supports dual-SIM cards, 3G connections, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Gradiente has also set up an application store with about 30,000 download options, according to the company.
Gradiente stated that it is confident in the success of its Iphone line in Brazil, and the manufacturer expects to increase its share of the smartphone market in the country.
