Apple and Cisco Systems on Wednesday settled their dispute over the iPhone trademark, six weeks after Cisco filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco over Apple's use of the name for its multimedia handheld device, the New York Times reports.

In a brief and ambiguous statement, the companies said they would dismiss all legal action against each other and that Apple could use the name for its device. They also said they would explore how to make their respective iPhones work together "in the areas of security and consumer and enterprise communication."

Apple's iPhone combines features of a mobile phone, iPod and BlackBerry. Cisco said it had owned the trademark since 2000 for a line of internet phones.

The companies said other terms of the deal would remain confidential. They had been in intense negotiations since early January.