Swooping in just after Apple made headlines with their very cool looking new iPhone, Cisco has brought a lawsuit against them over that name. iPhone apparently was a trademarked named owned over a decade ago by Infogear, who was later purchased by Cisco. Now that Apple has been making more than just a name for themselves with iProducts, it was only a matter of time before the "iPhone" name was stumbled upon. Even Cisco seems to like the phone, but regardless, doesn't want Apple using the name:
"Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco's iPhone name," said Mark Chandler, senior vice president and general counsel for Cisco. "There is no doubt that Apple's new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission."
Brand protection? Strong arming? Probably a little bit of both, but ultimately I imagine that Apple will try to license the name from them or seek to purchase it outright.