We know who owns the iPhone trademark, that of course is Cisco. Even if Apple likes to claim they own it from time to time. But who actually used the term first? No, it wasn’t Cisco or Apple, and though our own Vincent Nguyan is good at coming up with trademarks before their time, it wasn’t him either.

Apparently an advertisement for an “iPhone” came out back in 1996 from the Tranbon Electronic Industrial Co.  The ad ran in the September 1996 edition of Asian Computer Sources.

So should these guys fight for their right to own the iPhone trademark? Probably not. They weren’t actually using it to describe a single product, but rather a category of products similar to the way “smartphone” is used these days. Also, they spelled it ‘i-phone.’ It just doesn’t have the same kick as iPhone.

Hey look! Here’s an iPhone ad from, uh, 1996!! [via zdnet]