Apple trademark struggle with businesses continues

Apple continues its crackdown on small businesses that use its trademarks to sell products, this time targeting companies using Google AdWords containing Apple product names. One AdWords user received an email from Apple stating that the company "disapproved" of the advertiser's use of several Apple trademarks. When questioned on the reason behind this complaint, Google responded to the user that "The trademark owner of 'Mac' notified us that your AdWords ads were running with the trademarked term without the trademark owner's permission or other legal authority for doing so." The crackdown appears to be part of a larger strategy on Apple's part, which has also included legal pressure against iPod accessory makers to stop using the "iPod" mark.

ObjectsFusion in August announced that iPodStyles would become "istyles" following a trademark dispute over the use of the word "iPod." According to the accessory maker, Apple prohibits use of "iPod" for any marketing purposes by other companies.

In September, Apple filed for multiple trademarks on the term "iPodcast." The term describes the "broadcasting" of audio content over the Internet for download to an iPod. This process is more commonly known as "podcasting" by the public.

Apple also demanded that several Internet accessory vendors stop using the "iPod" moniker in company names or URLs. The company has sent out legal notices to everythingiPod.co.uk and iPodlife.co.uk in an effort to gain more control over the iPod trademark and prevent its dilution.

See the complete report on the AdWords dispute for further details.

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