Cisco, in a statement on its Web site, said it got the in 2000 after it bought Infogear, which had owned the trademark and had sold iPhone products for several years. According to Cisco, Infogear's original filing for the trademark was on March 20, 1996.

Linksys, a division of Cisco, has been shipping iPhone products since early 2006 and last month expanded the iPhone line further.

"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.

"Today's iPhone is not tomorrow's iPhone," he said. "The potential for convergence of the home phone, cell phone, work phone and PC is limitless, which is why it is so important for us to protect our brand."

With the lawsuit, Cisco is asking the court to prevent Apple from copying its iPhone trademark.