Apple Forces Removal Of Steve Jobs Action Figure
from the but-why? dept
A Chinese company, MIC Gadget, got some attention for its Steve Jobs figurine but some of that attention came from Apple's lawyers, who forced the company to stop selling the item. Lawyer David Canton (who pointed us to this story) does a nice job of explaining why this doesn't make much sense:It's not as if this in practice causes any harm to Apple or Steve Jobs or confusion about their brand. It doesn't put Steve or Apple in any bad light -- in fact, it's a good likeness. And it sold quickly, so there is demand for it.But that would go beyond the standard mentality of "protect, protect, protect."
Steve and Apple are not desperate for any extra publicity, or any extra income. But instead of shutting them down -- what if they struck a deal to pay a royalty on each one, and to sell them in Apple stores -- and then Apple donate its income from this to charity.
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Filed Under: action figures, publicity rights, steve jobs, trademark
Companies: apple, mic gadget
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yes
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That, to me, sounds like the beginning of a parody defense.
Apple scared them off on trademark and copyright grounds. Perhaps the word "iPhone" is trademarked, but I doubt they have trademarks on Jobs's likeness, or copyrights on something like a 2x2mm iPhone... All in all, Apple seems to be using the courts to terrorise a produce out of existence, just because it doesn't like it.
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I think there is a curse here somewhere.
Apple made some of the most innovative things I ever saw in my time and yet they always seems to get surpassed by other players that open the field to everybody. The insistence of Apple(Jobs) to try and create the ultimate monopoly always fail and he keeps trying, the guy is nothing but persistent LoL
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From famous to infamous!
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Ass face
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The inside story....
It seems that these dolls, while certainly less costly than the real Steve Jobs, were proving to be more charismatic leaders, better communicators and superior technology visionaries than the real article.
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What is the basis for the suit?
If not, then how can they legally connect an image of Steve Jobs with Appler?
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Re: What is the basis for the suit?
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Oh for a 3rd printer/injection molding machine
Under a 'litigious bastard' series.
(and Jobs has been a bitter man about this stuff after the Mighty Woz's Apple ][ line was cloned. The only reason for the end to the pineapple/franklin was because the spawn of 2 lawyers - Bill Gates - had done the paperwork on the AppleBASIC section of the ROM.)
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Ahhh
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Problems
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Owww....
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Re:
So Steve Jobs stole Smalltalk code, transformed it into 68K assembler and Pascal, then transformed it into something that was totally unlike the Xerox Star? Then Bill Gates went ahead and stole the aforementioned 68K ASM and Pascal, transformed it into x86 ASM and C, then changed it into something completely unlike the Mac?
Damn. I never knew.
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Then vs Now.
...and consumer systems generally are always behind the curve. They get features last after they have been in academia and in more serious commercial use for decades.
The mouse is actually a great example of this.
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Of course they can't!
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Scarcity == value
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SJ
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Frankly, they should have told Apple where to stick an apple and keep selling them. :P
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Bobble head...
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is this post or pre cancer Jobs??
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is this post or pre cancer Jobs??
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Not very lifelike...
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Doen't fit with Apple's image.
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Re: Doen't fit with Apple's image.
This may be Steve's Tom-Cruise-on-the-couch moment if he isn't careful; stock dives,
Jobs bobble head figures appear in car windows.
He can't drive anywhere without seeing these ridiculous things in the car in front of him...
I wonder if iThey could do anything if you took the figure as is and
replaced the head with an apple that has a bite taken out of it?
Now that would be a good bobble head figure..
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Parody
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Steve Jobs Action Figure for Sale
http://www.stevejobsactionfigure.com/
One of 300 in its original box and packing materials from Hong Kong.
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