Right after it launched the iPad mini, Apple filed a trademark application for the name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). As Patently Apple noticed earlier today, however, the USPTO will likely refuse Apple’s trademark filing because, the reviewer argues, “the applied-for mark merely describes a feature or characteristic of applicant’s goods.” The… → Read More
Apple and Amazon are fighting over made up words, as you may well be aware. Apple takes issue with Amazon’s use of “Appstore,” the name for the online retailer’s marketplace of Android software, which came after Apple had already been using its own App Store branding for a mobile apps market for a couple of years. A judge now says that before the issue actually goes to trial in August, the two… → Read More
Europe’s state railways continue to pick up steam in their lawsuits against Apple. Today, it emerged that Russian Railways has filed a trademark lawsuit against the iPhone maker, suing for 2 million roubles ($65,000). The reason is still not entirely clear: the public statement released by the RZD (Russian Railways’ abbreviation in Russian) only notes that the infringement relates to the RZD… → Read More
So here’s a story that hopefully will be an eye-opener for entrepreneurs and startups, while providing a painful peek into trademark harassment and the importance of due diligence. It goes a little something like this: About two years ago, software engineer Brian Hamachek decided to build an app first on Windows Mobile (how some horror stories have been known to begin), then on Windows Phone, that… → Read More
It was less than a week ago that Tenthbit, the developers of the buzzy, new social-networking-app-for-couples (or other partners) Pair, picked up a $4.2 million seed round, money the founders said would be used to expand its mobile development and design teams. Now it looks like some of those funds might also need to go to legal bills.
Tenthbit is getting sued by pair Networks, a hosting and… → Read More
While Apple is busy fighting Proview over the iPad trademark in China, it has lost a different trademark battle in Europe: Wapple, the mobile web developers, have won a suit filed by Apple over its name.
The suit, originally filed in 2007, claimed that Wapple was trading on Apple’s brand association and name, although Wapple had filed for a trademark on “Wapple” in 2006. → Read More
Timelines Inc., a small venture capital-backed Chicago company that operates the Timelines.com website, has launched a trademark-infringement suit against Facebook on Thursday, claiming that the latter’s recently announced Timeline feature could “quite possibly eliminate” its entire business.
Timelines.com is a website that basically allows people to record and share personal or historic… → Read More
The European Trademark Office has today published an application by Apple for dibs on the word “thinnovation”. And what’s more, it’s not just for computers and notebooks, but for “all manner of telecommunications,” hinting that Apple may have some broader WiMax plans up its sleeve. In related news, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, and Weight Watchers all expressed… → Read More
I don’t know if this is more or less ridiculous than Marvel claiming sole ownership of “super hero.” At least they had a hand in, if not creating from scratch, at least popularizing the term. But Futuremark, while an established company in an area where pwnage is rampant, has neither pwned anybody (ever) or even been in a situation where pwning was an option. And let’s be… → Read More
Today was supposed to be the iPhone trademark’s Judgement Day for Apple, as Cisco had set a February 16 deadline for Apple to respond to its lawsuit regarding the name. In a move that makes us all warm and fuzzy inside, Cisco has given Apple a five-day extension to February 21, at which point the two giants will hopefully have reached a “mutually beneficial agreement.” For the… → Read More
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