05/09, 9:00pm
Small press had use 'ibooks' for imprint, never registered trademark
Of the many contentious and complex legal battles Apple has had to fight, some are easier to sort out than others. In a New York courtroom on Wednesday, Judge Denise Cote -- who is also handling the complicated battle between Apple and the Department of Justice over e-book pricing -- made short work of a trademark dispute between Apple and a small-press publisher of sci-fi and horror novels. At issue was Black Towers' line of "ibooks" it obtained in the purchase of a smaller rival, and Apple's "iBooks" trademark.
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03/15, 5:58pm
Ruling does not prohibit iPhone sales, applies to telecommunications services
A ruling handed down by the Mexican Supreme Court has upheld November's lower court decision that Apple cannot register the "iPhone" trademark in the country for marketing telecommunications services. In its decision, the court sided with a native Mexican company that runs a small call center under the name iFone SA. The company expects the ruling to enhance a trademark infringement suit in which it is seeking damages against the Cupertino manufacturer and three carriers of the smartphone.
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03/10, 11:49pm
Said to be in talks with IGB Electrônica SA, iPhones still sold in Brazil
Apple and the holder of the trademark "iPhone" in Brazil, tech firm IGB Electrônica SA, are allegedly in talks to resolve a legal dispute that has seen the latter company release its own "iPhone" in the emerging market of Brazil. The firm, formerly known as IGB Gradiente, won a protracted court fight to the exclusive use of the name "iPhone" after it filed for the mark in 2000, years before Apple produced its own device. IGB only released its own iPhone in 2012, an Android-based device that runs Android OS 2.2 "Gingerbread."
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01/21, 10:11am
Protection would cover possible future color options as well
The maker of the iPad has filed applications in China to secure a design trademark on the iconic tablet, perhaps in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the legal battles with Samsung over the "rectangle with rounded corners" look of many of the rival firm's copycat devices. While many manufacturers manage to make tablets that don't obviously look like an iPad, Samsung in particular has made a cottage industry of it. Interestingly, the application covers both the black and white designs of the present iPads as well as potential color options.
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01/11, 11:29am
East Carolina University claims trademark infringed by Cisco
Cisco is being sued for trademark infringement over one of its marketing campaigns. East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina has announced the start of legal proceedings in a federal court, over the use of the slogan 'Tomorrow Starts Here' in a Cisco campaign shown on television, print publications, augmented reality, and also online.
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12/12, 6:06pm
Apple used various sounds over years, latest from 1999
While musical notes themselves cannot be patented, a combination of notes and realization of them that form a distinct and recognizable sound can be -- and the US Patent and Trademark Office has now officially granted a registered trademark to Apple for the current (and in use since 1999) startup chime. The sound turns out to be a slightly flat G flat/F sharp combination, according to the trademark application Apple filed in June, as noted by Patently Apple.
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07/02, 10:10pm
Holder of 'Xuebao' follows Proview shakedown ploy
Just a day after Proview was able to wrangle $60 million out of Apple by not honoring its original handover of the iPad trademark, another copyright holder is attempting a shakedown of its own by suing Apple over a trademark of the Chinese translation of "Snow Leopard" ("Xuebao") that Apple never used. Remarkably, the case will go to court in Shanghai on July 10.
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07/02, 7:24am
Apple gets on with new iPad sales in China following settlement
Apple has settled with Proview for $60 million over alleged infringement of the iPad trademark in China, according to Reuters. Apple had claimed that it was the legal owner of the iPad trademark after buying naming rights from Proview in 2009 using a shell company. Although Apple has insisted its deal included the transfer of naming rights in mainland China, Proview asserted default control of the iPad name in the region.
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04/24, 2:10am
Key factor now is price, says Proview attorney
An attorney for bankrupt display maker Proview has told the Associated Press that court-mediated talks between Apple and Proview in the ongoing dispute over the iPad trademark will "likely" produce an out-of-court settlement, a solution the company claims it has been pushing for all along. Apple has steadfastly maintained -- and has documents to prove -- that it purchased the "iPad" trademark from Proview in late 2009 and says Proview is just trying to extort more money.
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02/29, 2:00am
Could be decisive battle in trademark fight
What could be the final battle in the legal war between Apple and debt-ridden Proview Technology, the Higher People's Court of Guangzhou is hearing an appeal from the iPad maker over rights to the name "iPad" in China, which Apple says it bought from Proview but which Proview claims it didn't. While Apple has gotten the upper hand for the moment in preventing Proview from blocking iPad sales in China, the victory might be temporary.
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02/23, 3:00am
Bank of China, Minsheng controlled company
Court documents have revealed that the trademark battle between Apple and failed Hong Kong display maker Proview is not just between the two parties, but by the banks the company now says were controlling Proview at the time the deal for the rights to the "iPad" trademark was struck. Proview was already in receivership, and the creditors did not sign off on the agreement, company officials now claim.
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09/26, 8:00pm
Apple multi-touch may be victim of its own success
Apple was handed a rare loss with the US Patent & Trademark Office in a refusal to grant the company a trademark on the term "Multi-touch" in a decision reached by the Appeals Board on September 23rd, upholding the initial refusal earlier this year, reports MacRumors. Perhaps ironically, both the initial decision and the appeal based their refusal on the widespread adoption of the term throughout the industry -- an adoption Apple itself fostered with its early success.
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08/15, 7:15pm
May be an attempt to discourage knock-offs
Apple's Smart Cover for the iPad 2 has been trademarked as a name in most of the major territories where Apple does business -- the U.S., Canada, Europe and China -- but the company is moving to file a "figurative" trademark on the design, a patent filing in China discovered by Patently Apple shows. Should the patent be granted, Apple would be in a position to pursue litigation against "knock off" imitators.
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06/16, 12:30am
Formerly the name of line of traditional books
A lawsuit has been filed against Apple in U.S. District Court in the southern district of New York state charging infringement over the trademark for "iBooks," which publisher John T. Colby says was purchased by him from another publisher in 2006 and 2007, Bloomberg is reporting. The previous publisher, Byron Preiss, had put out more than 1,000 hardcover and paperback books under the "ibooks" name starting in late 1999.
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06/01, 7:30pm
Already owns iPod.com but not iPad.com
Apple has formally lodged a complaint with ICANN regarding the domain name iPods.com, the plural form of a domain name the company already owns -- nine years after the domain was first registered, TechCrunch reports. Apple, which owns the iPod trademark, has petitioned to have the domain transferred to it -- usually an action taken after negotiations to buy the domain have failed to produce an agreement.
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05/18, 2:00am
Replaces 'Chalkboard' as new font for notes
Apple has registered a "blind" trademark filing, asserting ownership of the term "Noteworthy" with the European Trademark Office based on a Jamaican application filed in November 2010, Patently Apple reports. The class descriptions associated with the filing leave few clues as to its nature, but interestingly one of the classes is reserved for "printer's type; printing blocks; printing fonts; typefaces," making it likely that it relates to the new, original "Noteworthy" font used in very recent iterations of the Notes app on newer iOS devices.
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04/19, 9:35pm
Name expected to be tied to upcoming tablet
Contrary to recent rumors surrounding the name of Toshiba's upcoming tablet, the company has filed to trademark the term 'Thrive' for an upcoming device specifically described as a "tablet computer." An Engadget report also points out that the company has established a range of domain names that include the term, including ToshibaThrive.com and ThriveTablet.com.
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02/24, 10:00pm
Not to be confused with 'Places' in iPhoto
Apple has filed a trademark application with the European Union (based on an earlier filing in Jamaica) to protect the name "Places" as a social networking service that may offer the ability to find friends via GPS. The application, filed yesterday, is categorized under for very broad classes covering almost every technology-related activity one could think of, but particularly lists the name as being used for "online social networking services."
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12/21, 8:40pm
Judge dismisses suit, cancels original trademark
Google and a number of other companies have finally won an ongoing legal battle over the Android trademark. The judge sided with the companies using Google's mobile OS and dismissed the infringement suit, which was originally filed by Illinois entrepreneur Erich Specht.
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04/01, 8:50pm
iPhone described as a non-distinctive trademark
Switzerland's Federal Administrative Court has upheld an earlier rejection of Apple's trademark application for the term "iPhone," according to Managing IP. The Trademark Office originally denied the application last summer, claiming the "i" distinction could be interpreted as a generic term for "Internet phone" or "information phone."
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09/22, 10:25pm
USPTO rejects Apple's claims, moves to trial
Apple is currently involved in a legal dispute with an entrepreneur, Daniel Kokin, over the use of the term "Pod," according to Wired. The iPod maker has threatened legal action against a variety of other individuals and companies that choose product names it considers too close to the popular media players. Most submit to Apple and follow the cease-and-desist commands, but Kokin has decided to fight back.
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03/03, 1:50am
Psion countersuit
Psion has reacted to Intel's lawsuit over the term 'netbook' by filing its own countersuit, arguing that the chip-maker's claims are "barred by reason of Plaintiff's own unclean hands," as the legal battle between the companies continues to develop, according to Ars Technica. The allegations further accuse Intel of "unjustly benefiting from Psion's goodwill and reputation" and "willfully and maliciously" encouraging other companies to participate in the trademark infringement.
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09/03, 6:50pm
"Cocoa Touch" trademark
Apple has filed a
trademark application for "Cocoa Touch," the software toolset that allows developers to access the Multi-Touch and accelerometer features in the iPhone 3G and iPod Touch. Apple has filed under International Class 009 in the U-S, seeking a trademark in the programming, data recovery and data analysis category. The Cocoa Touch API framework is included in the iPhone SDK.
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08/26, 12:55am
Apple pulls Tetris clone
Apple's legal machine has turned its sights on an independent developer, a college student responsible for an iPhone Tetris clone called Tris, who is conceding to the company's removal of the game from the App Store. Developer Noah Witherspoon says that Apple contacted him on behalf of The Tetris Company, who complained of trademark and copyright violations. While Witherspoon believes he could overcome the issue in the court system, but as a student, he lacks the proper resources to do so.
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08/07, 4:00pm
Leopard system prefs logo
Apple has applied for a trademark for its System Preferences logo, according to new filings. The US Patent and Trademark Office published Apple's trademark filing #77535337 on August 6. The filing is a TEAS Plus application under Class 009 (computer Software for managing user system settings and preferences). The logo being trademarked is presented below, both in its simplified visual representation and its actual sample forms. The image is used in all recent versions of the Dock in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.
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07/11, 4:40pm
Apple settles iPhone trade
Apple and Canada's Comwave Telecom have settled their trademark dispute over the use of the name "iPhone." The agreement was reached Wednesday night, with Apple retaining sole rights to the iPhone name in Canada, and Comwave phasing out its use of the name in reference to its Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone service by November 9. Further terms were not disclosed. The agreement, first reported by the Globe and Mail, ends a long battle between the two companies.
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06/27, 12:00am
Apple sues tech over iPod
After filing documents trademark documents concerning the use of "Pod" and "iPod" in products and advertising, Apple is pursuing a lawsuit against a Michigan iPod repair business, the iPod Mechanic. AppleInsider reveals that in 2006, Apple had warned business owner Nicholas Woodhams over the use of the terms, asking him to stop. Woodhams allegedly agreed, but did not follow through, and has now supposedly tipped the scales by committing fraud against Apple.
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04/07, 5:15pm
iPod icon trademark apps
The European Trademark Office recently published 55 newly registered iPod icons, and were originally filed with Munich office of Bardehle, Pagenbert, Dost, Altenburg, and Geissler. The icons more or less cover the gamut of those offered by the iPod, relating to videos, podcasts, notes, iPod radio, games, voice memos, and the Nike+ sport system. The icons appear on current generation iPod nanos and Classics, as users navigate menus to examine their libraries, among other things.
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04/03, 2:25pm
Apple vs. New York
Apple is claiming that a new logo for New York City's GreeNYC campaign is too similar to its own. According to Wired, the GreeNYC logo shows a stylized apple with a stalk and a leaf that bears a resemblance to Apple's famous logo. When the city applied for a trademark on the logo, Apple filed a formal opposition, claiming that a trademark grant on the logo would "seriously injure the reputation which [Apple] has established for its goods and services." The city of New York stated, in response: "The city believes that Apple's claims have no merit and that no consumer is likely to be confused. This well-known city is using its new design in a variety of contexts that have absolutely nothing to do with Apple Inc."
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