Apparently, Gradiente Eletronica SA registered the the iPhone trademark in 2000 for goods in Class 9, which includes mobile devices and accessories, which was seven years before Apple launched its iconic iPhone. This ruling will be officially announced on Febryary 13, after which Apple may choose to appeal the decision in Brazilian courts. As Apple’s smart phone market share in North America and Asia is rapidly slipping away, this decision may carry serious implications for the company since Brazil is the largest and fastest growing smart phone market in Latin America.

In a delicious ironic twist, the company which owns the iPhone trademark in Brazil is a manufacturer of electronic appliances – its smart phone product is called “iPhone” and uses the Android operating system.

The tools available on the website provide a very general information in English about a registered mark and there do not appear to be any supporting documents available, such as trademark application or administrative proceeding history.  Still, this tool demonstrates China’s desire to move away from hostility toward intellectual property protections for foreign businesses operating in China.

In a related development, the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court recently issued a research report discussing the rampant cyber-squatting practice in China of beating famous international marks to a registration in the hope of selling the marks later. The court also has issued some recommendations on what measures to take to discourages malicious use the the trademark registration system.