Cisco on Wednesday filed suit against Apple over its use of the iPhone name, prompting Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris to tell MarketWatch: "We think Cisco's trademark lawsuit is silly. Apple is the first company to ever use the 'iPhone' name for a cell phone. We believe that Cisco's trademark registration is tenuous at best. If Cisco wants to challenge us on it, we are very confident we would prevail."

She also noted that companies other than Cisco and Apple have used the iPhone name for voice-over IP products, although she didn't state any of them, and a cursory Internet search did not turn them up.

Cisco's filing demands that Apple not use the name, which Cisco's Linksys division uses on a series of wireless phones that began shipping last month. Cisco has owned the trademark on the iPhone name since 2000, when it purchased InfoGear, which originally owned the rights.

Mark Chandler, senior vice-president and general counsel for Cisco, said on Wednesday that his company assumed Apple had agreed to the terms it delivered on Monday night when the iPhone was introduced on Tuesday, but it turned out that Apple had never signed the agreement. "Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," he said. "There is no doubt that Apple's new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without permission."

Trademark attorney Allonn Levy told IDG News that Apple's release of the iPhone "could be seen as intentional infringement," since it had previously been in talks with Cisco for the use of the name. He called Apple's decision "a dangerous move."