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BT jumps gun on i-mode trademark
Registers a dozen versions of Japanese brand in UK
BT has been busy squirreling away trademarks in preparation for Japanese telecoms giant NTT DoCoMo's debut in Europe next year.
According to Silicon.com, the cheeky telco has registered 12 versions of the trademark i-mode - which is the brand of NTT DoCoMo's Net-enabled mobile phone system - with the UK patent office. This is rather premature as BT has not yet won the right to use the name.
Big bad BT may be trying to spoil the Japanese company's launch in the UK and Europe, or maybe it wants to steal the name to start its own service under the brand. i-mode has really taken off in Japan - last month the company said it expected 20 million i-mode subscriptions by March. Whereas rival WAP has received a more lukewarm response.
Another possibility is that the two are planning to team up to roll out the UK venture together. ®
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