In an interview for Bloomberg today, Mr. Eugenio Staub, president of the pathetic IGB Eletronica SA, said that the company is open to dialogue in case Apple wants to buy the rights to use the name iPhone in Brazil.

Let me get this straight. After Steve Jobs announced the iMac in 1998 and justified the use of the prefix i because of the internet, Gradiente registered the name iPhone and never did anything about it. The years passed, Apple released a product called iPhone, it became one of the most successful products in the history of the world, while Gradiente went bankrupt (wonder why) and was bought by IGB Eletronica SA.

Then, last November, 2 months before license for the naming rights in Brazil expired, they rushed and released a shitty Android-based phone just to secure the name. Because of a more than fair shitstorm they were subjected to, they put out a little video (sorry. no english subtitles) explaining themselves, saying that it wasnt their fault that they guessed the future, defended their lawfully rights to use the name, promoted their shitty phone, got anybody with half a brain against them, insisted in this fight they have been fighting for years just to secure the name, and now that the license has finally been granted, they come out and say that they are willing to sell the naming rights?

What a cheap, low shot. It’s because of companies like this that technology doesnt move forward as fast as it can. It’s because of attitudes like this, that the name of the country is put in doubt anywhere in the world. If Gradiente, IGB or even Mr. Staub had put all this time, money and effort in RnD for something actually good, something actually positive, something so great that they’d never be ‘open to selling’, it would have been better for everyone. For Gradiente, for Apple, and even for me and everybody else in Brazil, who now run the risk of having to watch the iPhone’s evolution from the outside.

Assholes.

Related:
INPI postpones the date for the formal decision favoring Gradiente in the iPHONE case
It’s not just the iPhone. In the 90s, Gradiente registered the PlayStation brand.
Gradiente is either stupid, or dishonest. Probably both.
Brazilian company Gradiente releases a product called Iphone. Try not to laugh.