Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- When it comes to buying an iPhone in Brazil , consumers have one extra option that the rest of us do not . There 's the `` iPhone '' made by the California tech giant Apple . Then there 's the `` iphone '' made by the Brazilian firm Gradiente Eletronica and , perhaps in a slap to Apple , runs on rival Android 's operating system . And it 's going to stay that way pending any future appeal or settlement . On Thursday , Brazil 's Institute of Industry Property ( INPI ) , the country 's main patent regulator , ruled that Apple holds no exclusive right to use the iPhone moniker to market its mobile phones . If Apple continues to use the iPhone name , Gradiente can sue . INIP added that Gradiente Eletronica holds exclusive rights to the trademark though 2018 after having registered for the iPhone name in 2000 . Apple only unveiled its iPhone name in 2007 . Apple may have gotten a bruising but an appeal is in the works . And in a twist on timing that Apple hopes may help it win branding rights , Gradiente Eletronica only launched its first `` iphone '' , the iphone Neo One , in December 2012 -- five years after Apple debuted its inaugural iPhone . Gradiente explained it held back on releasing its own iphone until recently as it concluded corporate restructuring from 2008 . Apple 's trademark trouble in Latin America 's most populous country is just the latest in a series of global snafus that have spanned China , Japan and the United States . Just days after Apple announced its first iPhone in January 2007 , Cisco Systems sued the company in U.S. federal court saying it had owned trademark rights since 2000 . Apple and Cisco agreed to a settlement the following month that allowed both companies use of the iPhone name . In 2009 , Apple paid Proview Taiwan a sum of $ 55,000 for use of the `` iPad '' name in mainland China . But in a complicated dispute , Proview claimed Apple set up a shell company to fool it into selling the trademark . In addition , Proview Taiwan did not actually own the rights to the iPad trademark in mainland China -- a subsidiary , Proview Shenzhen , did . Apple only secured the name in 2012 after paying out the actual trademark owner $ 60 million . And in 2010 , Apple secured the iPad trademark in the United States from Japanese electronics maker Fujitsu which had registered the name in the U.S. in 2003 . According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office , the title transfer was recorded on March 17 , 2010 , five days after Apple began pre-selling its first iPad .
Apple loses right to iPhone trademark in Brazil . Brazil patent regulator affirms local Brazilian company owns exclusive rights through 2018 . Brazilian company Virgin Mobile debuted ` ` iphone ' One '' December 2012 . Apple has endured past trademark disputes in China , Japan , Korea .