Taking your case public
Scoble is right - this post from Cisco's general counsel is fascinating. In it, he lays out Cisco's case for the iPhone trademark (and it looks like it's pretty solid). He explains Cisco's side of the argument, which looks reasonable. The interesting thing is this: Cisco recognizes that the trademark case is as much (or more) about PR than it is about the law.
So what have they done? They've taken their complaint public, where the tech bloggers (and the trade press) can see it. Rather than simply deploying lawyers and letting the case bog down for years, they've pulled out the soapbox as a way of creating a PR event - one that could easily go negative for Apple.
The closest analog to this I can find is what Rogers Cadenhead did a year ago when Dave Winer acted like a jerk (I know - what a shocker). It seems to have helped Cadenhead - the glaring light of publicity has a way of making bad behavior stand out.
PR and marketing folks - and corporate lawyers - should keep an eye on both ends of this fight.
Comments
Couple more
[Amyloo] January 11, 2007 9:55:46.775
More cases: Cadenhead's more current airing of the wargames.com domain dispute; and the famous Maine blogger and his fight with the state tourism board's ad agency.
P.S. Just a wee little counterpoint to the always-popular "Winer is a jerk" meme. I don't have an opinion about the dispute you mention, but I do admire what Dave has done for the web, and I find many more endearing aspects in his wide range of personality traits than nasty ones.