Apple Continues To Insist Only It Can Use An Apple In A Logo; Threatens Small German Cafe

from the can-i-have-an-apple? dept

Mon, Oct 24th 2011 3:28am — Mike Masnick

Not this again. We were just noting some recent attempts by Apple to pretend its trademark blocked anyone else from using an Apple in their own logo, no matter how obviously different and unrelated to the computer company. Take for example, these two disputes:

The latest, is that Apple has apparently sent a cease and desist to a small cafe in Germany, Apfelkind, whose logo looks absolutely nothing like Apple's:

At this point, you kind of wonder if Apple has some trademark lawyers who have way way way too much free time on their hands.

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Filed Under: apple, trademark
Companies: apfelkind, apple

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fogbugzd (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 3:52am

It is ironic that Apple is such a trademark bully considering all the legal problems it had with the the name "Apple." I wonder how many of the old arguments that Apple used in its case against the Beatles music label will resurface in these cases.
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2011 @ 9:18am
  
  Re:
  It does not Appley here
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- Jonalist, 25 Oct 2011 @ 11:11am
  
  Re: apple juicer data spoiled
  Wouldn't it be just as good to use the above image as a doubled set with words below as a cafe logo since Apple uses only one apple on its logo and also if one placed behind the other this is entirely different than a single apple. Apple having made the claim before does not mean that Apple can continue to crush anyone into a juice and come out shiny apple like Apple.
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- Youfool, 25 Oct 2011 @ 4:43pm
  
  Re: You don't understand how trademarks work do you?
  You know nothing about how trademarks work do you? Probably an android fanboy sperg too.
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  - Frungi, 26 Feb 2018 @ 7:58pm
    
    Re: Re: You don't understand how trademarks work do you?
    I’m an Apple fan, you’re a jerk, and he has a point.
    
    Most likely, though, trademark lawyers go after everyone they can, no matter how seemingly ridiculous, lest they risk losing the trademark over not sufficiently “protecting” it. Law is stupid sometimes.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
fogbugzd (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 3:56am

It looks like I have to amend my previous description of Apple's trademark claims. It appears that they claim apples, rectangles, the color white, and all words starting with the letter i.
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- Anonymous Coward, 25 Oct 2011 @ 3:19pm
  
  Re:
  Excuse me sir, Apple lawyers here. Yes. We need to speak to you about your use of the letter 'i'.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2011 @ 3:58am

And we can't forget that Cisco released an iPhone in 1991, more than 10 years before Apple released theirs. And then Apple started suing everyone for using iSomething. Yet Apple copied the entire name.
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- PaulT (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 4:10am
  
  Re:
  To be fair, I don't think they "copied" the name rather than happened to come up with the same name independently. Whoever was meant to check for prior trademarks dropped the ball, but considering how the name came about, it's extremely unlikely that they copied the name.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2011 @ 6:13am
    
    Re: Re:
    Apple is notorious for naming their products whatever they want then either bullying or buying out whoever owns the name after they've announced it.
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  - Rabbit80, 24 Oct 2011 @ 10:02am
    
    Re: Re:
    IBM were using the name iSeries for their servers in 2000 - I know quite a few people that still use it to this day!
    
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System_i
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- JH, 24 Oct 2011 @ 9:22am
  
  Re:
  And don't forget Cisco's switch operating system IOS, which I believe was released in the mid-90's.
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- Also Anonymous, 25 Oct 2011 @ 4:40pm
  
  Re:
  Apple does license iPhone and IOS from cisco, just so you know.
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- Caz, 25 Oct 2011 @ 7:50pm
  
  Re:
  1998, actually. And it was an internet appliance rather than a phone. I googled.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linksys_iPhone
  
  You can criticise a lot about Apple's lawsuits, but spreading misinformation isn't the way to go about it.
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- le boss, 26 Oct 2011 @ 10:58am
  
  Re:
  You may not forget that Cisco lost the trademark for "iPhone" in 2006.
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Carlo Piana, 24 Oct 2011 @ 4:03am

Frivolous and disturbing
I believe there should be some sort of retribution against this sort of demands. They twist the law, abuse the difference in legal warfare that smaller entities have. The remedy should be a "frivolous claim remedy", whereby anyone who claims clearly unfounded "rights" and disrupts legitimate business is forced to pay a multiple of the legal expenses faced by the attacked party, in retribution for the mayhem caused.
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2011 @ 8:04am
  
  Re: Frivolous and disturbing
  That sounds OK for the company, though I would prefer seeing the CEO and Chairman doing some hard time. But what about they lawyers? Maybe we should remove them from the bar of law and send them to a sand bar at low tide, spreadeagled to a very heavy anchor. Then bait the area with crabs.
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  - el_segfaulto (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 8:21am
    
    Re: Re: Frivolous and disturbing
    I like this plan!
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - DOlz (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 11:30am
    
    Re: Re: Frivolous and disturbing
    I always thought staking next to a fire ant hill would be appropriate.
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- Steve, 25 Oct 2011 @ 4:44pm
  
  Re: Frivolous and disturbing
  Your absolutely right , it should be just like in Hockey where if one team accuses the other teams player of using an illegal
  stick and it is found that the stick is in fact legal then the accusing team gets a penalty instead .
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Old Man in The Sea, 24 Oct 2011 @ 4:04am

Drugged up and looking for a fight
What kind of twisted drug destroyed minds are running these court cases?

To see such a commonality between some of these logos and the apple requires some serious hallucinogenic drugs to be ingested.

Is this an example we want to leave to our children and grandchildren?
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- Rikuo (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 5:03am
  
  Re: Drugged up and looking for a fight
  They're the same type people who argue that these photos are the same
  http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111020/13043016441/homage-is-expensive-rihanna-pays-up-to-s ettle-photographers-lawsuit.shtml
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Dave LaChapelle, 25 Oct 2011 @ 8:49pm
    
    Re: Re: Drugged up and looking for a fight
    Dave LaChapelle, Dave Chappelles french photographer cousin.
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anonymous, 24 Oct 2011 @ 4:04am

just waiting for them to try to trademark/patent or whatever the term 'jobs'. or maybe try to stop people from referring to 'apple' trees! pathetic! leave it out already!
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Ima Fish (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 4:28am

"you kind of wonder if Apple has some trademark lawyers who have way way way too much free time on their hands."

No, Apple has trademark lawyers who get paid by the hour. Probably well over a grand an hour.
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- Major, 24 Oct 2011 @ 5:10am
  
  Re:
  Exerpt from my personal dictionnary :
  Trademark Lawsuit ˈ/treɪdmɑːk lɔːsuːt/
  ▶noun
  "a claim or dispute due to lawyers paids well over a grand an hour who have way too much free time on their hands."
  
  i think both of you are right or my dictionnary is wrong, but if it is wrong i'am gonna hit your head with it 'till im right !
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2011 @ 5:02am

The problem here is that lawyers are using the government system of inventing problems and then being paid to solve them. What we need to do is switch them to the corporate system of being paid for goofing off on the internet. Productivity would remain at zero, but these negative side effects would be mostly eliminated.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2011 @ 5:30am

An apple
An apple a day keeps the lawyers in pay
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wasnotme (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 5:35am

Jobs Trademark
Brilliant Idea. I am going to Trademark the word jobs, that way anyone who speaks the name, or writes about how there are no jobs in the economy. I will be able to get paid all the royalties. I will make one hundred-million-billion-Kagillion dollars. Mua Ha Ha Ha.
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Joshua, 24 Oct 2011 @ 5:56am

and you know what makes this so funny is that Apple originally stole the Apple Logo from Xerox Back when apple was just starting out hmm how easily we forget our past
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P3T3R5ON (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 6:03am

Is there an App for that?
Is there an App for that?

Cease and Desist only .99$
It comes in a light version too!
iOS 5.0 Compatable!
Find us in the GameCenter!!!

Now you too can tell people to stop doing things, making things, using things that you don't think they should be able to do because it looks like, tastes like, smells like or feels like something you have already created, tasted or smelled!

*CNET Review - By Joe Blow*
This is a great app, I love sending out Cease and Desist letters from my phone. I see my son Jonny not doing his homework, zing... Ceast and Desist order on all non homework related activites.

(Not an actual app.... yet)
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Nick Burns (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 6:13am

I probably shouldn't say anything, but I wonder how long before they go after Apple Spice Junction, a great sandwich shop that we frequent.
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Christopher Froehlich (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 6:21am

Apples and Clouds
Sometimes, the idea for an icon is just so generic that it can't be avoided. There are only so many ways to draw an abstract image of an apple. Coincidentally, it seems there is only one way to draw a cloud: http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ThereIsOnlyOneCloudIconInTheEntireUniverse.aspx
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ken (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 6:31am

Letter to Apple Farmers
Dear Joe's Apple Farm.

This letter is to inform you that your product is infringing on our trademark. We demand you change the name and appearance of your product immediately or legal action will be taken.
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- DogBreath, 24 Oct 2011 @ 9:01am
  
  Re: Letter to Apple Farmers
  Based on that same kind of trademark stupidity, anyone can see these guys are really in trouble:
  
  MonsterApples
  
  I mean how dare they use a 3 dimensional organic object of nature, in a 2 dimensional image on a webpage to represent what they are selling?
  
  Moron(in a hurry): "I'm confused... are Apple and Monster Cable now selling candied apples?"
  
  Lawyer(in a hurry to bill somebody, anybody, for billable hours): "I'll take the case!"
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nathan F (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 6:42am

And once again. Is the Apple logo Red, Green, Silver, or that horrid multicolor affair from way back when?
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gorehound (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 6:54am

I do not want to buy anything from Apple.This Company reminds me of a bad spoiled little rich kid.
And I am sick and tired of reading about their latest lawsuits........blah blah blah waaaaaaaaaaaaah
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- Gwiz (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 10:47am
  
  Re:
  This Company reminds me of a bad spoiled little rich kid.
  
  Spoiled like a rotten Apple� ?
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James Smith Jo�o Pessoa, Brazil, 24 Oct 2011 @ 6:55am

Tell them this:
Even though I have been a Mac user since 1986, Apple's recent policies are terrible. I'd advise them to obey the biblical command to "go forth and multiply thyself."
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2011 @ 7:33am

I wonder how many employees make up the legal dept. By their past exploits, they must outnumber all other departments combined.
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Overcast (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 8:06am

Even though I have been a Mac user since 1986, Apple's recent policies are terrible. I'd advise them to obey the biblical command to "go forth and multiply thyself."

But that's hard when the obviously posture of the company is to: litigate, control, and restrict users.

People don't want all of that, and it's why I just outright skip over 'apple' products.
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Iron, 24 Oct 2011 @ 8:45am

Frivolous and disturbing
Gotta agree with people here.
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Austin (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 9:30am

There's actually a fair claim here
But not by Apple. Take the second logo, remove the stem, and rotate it 90 degrees clockwise. Looks practically identical to the LG logo. I'm not saying that anyone could get a latte confused with a smartphone, mind you, but if the cafe has in-house computers with stickers on them, I could see a potential claim there. Far reaching and somewhat bogus, but at least it'd have SOME legal merit to a point. As for Apple having an anywhere-near-valid claim on ANY of this, obviously not.

I do find this funny though. I saw a few specials over the weekend on the late Mr. Jobs. I noticed that several - at least 4 or 5 different people - said he had more or less total reverence for the Beatles. For a Beatles fan, he had one hell of a lawsuit going against Apple Records for several years. Doesn't sound like what a fan would do to me. Maybe an artist or a studio, but not a fan. Of course, the truth is Steve wasn't an "innovator" as everyone in the popular media is saying now. Steve Jobs was a master iterator. He couldn't invent an original concept if his life depended on it, but when it came to taking the work of others and improving upon it, nobody did better. Well, that and marketing. I swear to god I spent the last 10 years just waiting on the day when Steve would stand up and introduce iShit, a turd that was painted white and doesn't smell. The sad thing is, he could've totally pulled it off - and sold millions of handfuls of shit. Literally. Don't get me wrong, I respect him for that.

But still. For someone who talked about innovation, his actual genius was iteration. For someone who loved the Beatles, he sure seemed to hate them in a courtroom. For someone who kept hocking a bunch of "fastest" computers, he never did actually release a single system that was top of the line. Ever. But eh, it was white and metal and "cool" so who cares about actual performance, right?

Anyhow...as to the topic at hand, no surprise here Mike. Anyone willing to sue their favorite band in the whole wide world clearly has no limits on who they'll sue, or for what.
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- PaulT (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 10:44am
  
  Re: There's actually a fair claim here
  "Anyone willing to sue their favorite band in the whole wide world"
  
  Of course, you'd have a point. Except for the fact that it was Apple Corps (the Beatles' record company) who did the suing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer
  
  The rest of your post appears to be just as factual and witty, so I'll leave it there.
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Lawyers in Albuquerque, NM, 24 Oct 2011 @ 10:18am

Lawyers in Albuquerque, NM
I understand that their name is apple but that doesn�t mean that they own the shape or the fruit. Next they will want to change the name of the fruit because it looks like their logo.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Oct 2011 @ 10:21am

Two Words, Apple Records
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Rikuo (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 10:49am

Correct me if I'm wrong here please, but doesn't trademark law require that you be in more or less the same line of business? So...how can Woolworth's infringe on a trademark when they sell groceries and Apple Inc sell electronic products?
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Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 11:26am

As a moron in a hurry, I think I can safely say that I'm confused. The two bottom logos in the right column look the same to me! And top right one is the same shape but a different size and color, so it's obviously a different logo.
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Vic, 24 Oct 2011 @ 11:31am

How cannot you see the profile of a young Steve Jobs inside that apple? They obviously took the very popular "profile in an apple" mirrored it and made him younger! Not even very transformative. So, I would even claim copyright infringement if I were one of those three guys that draw it at some point in time!
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gmarcotte, 24 Oct 2011 @ 4:20pm

Don't hate the player....
I'm no lawyer, but from what I've read about trademark law the important thing in cases like these is not to actually win the case or get the other guys to change their name/logo, but simply to have your objection on the record. If you don't do that, then when someone comes along who actually is infringing your trademark they'll point to the Woolworths and Apfelkinds and say "Look, those companies were also infringing and Apple had no problem with them, why should they have a problem with us?" And the real problem is that there is precedent for that argument to win the day in court.

So are these claims absurd? Of course.
Are Apple's lawyers being overly cautious in defending their trademark? Maybe.
But this (and similar ridiculous claims) is more likely the result of deeply flawed trademark case law, rather than anything unique to Apple.
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The Devil's Coachman (profile), 24 Oct 2011 @ 5:58pm

Apples lawyers have a lot more than free time on their hands
They also have the shredded remnants of what used to be their foreskins on them, and having made themselves so sore, decided that they would now have to do the next best thing, which is engaging in pointless litigation, which for some reason, almost rhymes with masturbation. Coincidence? I think not! Ask them. I'm sure they will deny everything plausibly.
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Jorvay, 25 Oct 2011 @ 7:51am

iRony
Watch Steve Job's 2003 iPod/iTunes event. At about 6:45, he says something that shows that there was a time that Apple got it when it came to technology and legality. I miss those days.
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- Jorvay, 25 Oct 2011 @ 7:52am
  
  Re: iRony
  http://youtu.be/VRxhGpzyqQ4
  
  Sorry, forgot the link.
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Tapefruit, 25 Oct 2011 @ 12:06pm

Suggestion to Apple
I suggest Apple shoul sue me - because my website-logo definitely resembles some kind of fruit... which is obviously enough already
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Don, 25 Oct 2011 @ 1:46pm

Only Apple can use an apple logo?
That's very interesting to me. If that is the case should Apple not be required to contact the remaining members or estate of the Beatles to use an apple in their logo. Cause, correct me if I am mistaken, Apple records was actually using an apple very similar to the one used by Apple (the computer company) long before the computer company was created. For that matter, are produce companies who produce apples not supposed to use an apple for a logo? But then, a logo would not be the first thing that Apple stole from someone else, then fought tooth and nail to keep to themselves.
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Bryce, 25 Oct 2011 @ 5:25pm

There isn't any harm in it for Apple to try to protest other logos. It is simply a cost/benefit analysis for them. It is the governments' job to ensure trademark fairness, not Apple's job to stop protesting.
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Jon, 25 Oct 2011 @ 7:31pm

Realistically, I bet their legal team just has a Google Alert for "apple".
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Roshan, 25 Oct 2011 @ 8:00pm

A for Apple
my 4 year nephew learns A for Apple and has apple on the book cover. Will Apple sue them too?
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DickDudlru, 25 Oct 2011 @ 8:39pm

I can't wait for apple to sue NYC for being nicknamed "The Big Apple".
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EP, 26 Oct 2011 @ 1:31am

Applebees
I suppose they're gonna go after Applebees too.

Google Images returns this logo:
http://www.applebeescouponsprintable.org/
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Anonymous Coward, 26 Oct 2011 @ 8:54am

What about Happy Apples the candy apple maker ... Are they next because they have the happiest apples.
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Crapple, 29 Oct 2011 @ 6:21pm

This reminds me on Greece and their problem with neighboring Republic of Macedonia
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Landscaping, 4 Mar 2012 @ 7:49pm

Sickening
Come on Apple, do you really need to sue places like woolworth. Disgusting
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