(Image source: Gradiente Eletronica )   BY LORA VLAEVA ANCHOR ZACH TOOMBS Have you ever dreamt of having an iPhone without wanting to pay the price? Well you can now go to Brazil and purchase an ‘iPhone’ from the local company Gradiente Eletronica. Brazilian copyright regulators ruled Wednesday the US tech giant Apple lost its trademark to Gradiente Eletronica, which registered the name ‘iPhone’ in 2000...no less than seven years before Apple did. (Video via Gradiente Eletronica ) The California company’s petition to the Institute of Industrial Property was made on the ground Gradiente didn’t actually use the trademark before last December when it released its new ‘iPhone Neo One’ which just so happens to be an Android smartphone. (Via Gradiente Eletronica ) Cnet reports this decision comes just a week after the regulators actually planned on giving exclusive rights to the Brazilian company. But the Institute of Industrial Property told BBC the decision only concerned phones. Apple still has exclusive rights to use the name “on clothing, in software and across publications”. Apple is now expected to file an appeal while Gradiente Eletronica could sue for exclusive rights in Brazil. The US tech giant could also negotiate a price with the local company for a full exclusivity on the name. TechSpot reports a similar episode happened last July when Apple paid $60 million to China-based company Proview for the ownership of the ‘iPad’ name in the country. The dispute comes at a bad time for Apple. Just last week CEO Tim Cook said Brazil was the company’s second most important market after the US. GigaOm reports: “Brazil is an easy choice for Apple to make its grand entrance in South America: The country of well over 200 million people has one of the best economies in South America right now, and it is seen as a prime place for foreign investment.” Apple’s last financial results have shown the company’s cash holdings have reached $137bn.