Just In The Nick Of Time, Apple Gets The iPad Trademark

from the cutting-it-close... dept

You may recall, right after the Apple iPad announcement, people started noticing that Apple didn't hold the trademark on the name. Instead, Fujitsu had a pending trademark on iPad and was saying it had no intention of giving up the name (and some others had trademarks on other "iPads" as well). However, it looks like just as the iPad is about to ship, Apple figured out how to make Fujitsu change its mind (I assume it involved truckloads of cash). Copycense points out that Apple has bought the "iPad" trademark from Fujitsu. It looks like the official transfer just happened on March 17th. Makes you wonder what Apple would have done if Fujitsu hadn't been willing to sell the trademark.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: ipad, trademark
Companies: apple, fujitsu


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2010 @ 5:58pm

    "Makes you wonder what Apple would have done if Fujitsu hadn't been willing to sell the trademark."

    ...actually do some market research for realz & find a relevant, cool, long lasting name?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2010 @ 6:00pm

    Awww Fuji... why? Why? It would have been so very sweet.
    And Troll worthy.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    D, 29 Mar 2010 @ 6:02pm

    ...

    "Makes you wonder what Apple would have done if Fujitsu hadn't been willing to sell the trademark."

    Renamed it the iPhad...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2010 @ 6:06pm

    Does anyone have the trademark on iglasses ?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. icon
    Dark Helmet (profile), 29 Mar 2010 @ 6:07pm

    Re:

    "Does anyone have the trademark on iglasses ?"

    iDo....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2010 @ 6:11pm

    Re:

    Offer more money, naturally.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2010 @ 6:48pm

    another truck load of cash...and a promise not to sue for infringement on patents of obvious, broad patents?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2010 @ 7:54pm

    *gets a trademark on the ThaiPad*

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. icon
    Big_Mike (profile), 30 Mar 2010 @ 5:26am

    New Name

    They could put a larger battery in it and call it the iMaxipad or lowered the security and added the larger battery and called it the "Stay Free" iMaxipad... My co-worker has a clip on his cubicle that compares the iPad to a seven year old HP tablet and the seven year old tablet had better specs. What's the hype?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. icon
    Killer_Tofu (profile), 30 Mar 2010 @ 6:41am

    iPad?

    When did Apple move into the feminine products area?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 30 Mar 2010 @ 10:28am

    They didn't own the trademark on iPhone until well after it;s launch.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.