New Android-powered iPhone may pose legal risks for Brazilian company

U.S. business owners may have heard about the major legal disputes going on between Samsung and Apple, with both companies developing mobile phones and allegedly infringing on each other’s patents. A similar intellectual property case may be in the works in Brazil if a company goes through with its plans for an Android-powered iPhone.

IGB Electronica SA, a Brazilian electronics maker, is currently in the process of developing this type of mobile technology, according to Techno Buffalo. In the past, the company applied for but was not awarded a patent trademark to use the iPhone’s technological aspects in Brazil. Regardless, the new iPhone may be deployed in the coming months, with various problems regarding patent infringement likely to ensue, especially from the Android makers.

The new iPhone Neo One will be using Google’s Android operating system, according to online publication The Verge. Apple is looking to expand its services and manufacturing in Brazil and is undertaking routes to handle the high importing tax in order to bring electronics to the country.

“IGB indeed sought to obtain an iPhone trademark back in 2000 but met stiff resistance in its attempt to do so. Apple would later file for the iPhone brand in 2006, ahead of the first model’s launch, and was granted the trademark,” the source stated. “Whether Apple deems IGB’s new Android device to be worthy of its legal team’s attention is another matter.”

Foreign businesses attempting to conduct transactions in Brazil as well as produce new products or manufacturing centers will need to be prepared for intellectual property compliance. With the help of a Brazilian lawyer from an experienced business-centered Brazilian law firm, companies will be able to avoid such cases as well as represent themselves in patent infringement lawsuits.