Apple picking on NYC green living trademark
There are many ways to slice--or draw--an apple, but the Cupertino, Calif., computer maker is once again claiming right to its own methodology.
Just as we were enjoying a reprieve from Apple trademark cases, a new one arose this week with the company challenging New York City's trademark application for a logo it's using in a new green living campaign.
The Big Apple's GreeNYC campaign features an emblem--an apple with a stalk and leaf--that has started to appear on city bus shelters, hybrid cabs, and even Whole Foods shopping bags, according to a story first reported by Wired.
Apple says the emblem resembles its own signature logo, and will thus confuse people and "seriously injure the reputation which (Apple) has established for its goods and services," according to the January filing with the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board obtained by Wired (PDF).
New York, in response, says the claim is without merit and that Apple is asking for overly broad protection, according to news reports. A spokeswoman for the city's marketing arm said the logo was "meant to invoke thoughts of upstate New York's bucolic rural areas, where apple orchards once delivered much of the nation's crop," according to the Associated Press. She added that the idea came from the city's Big Apple nickname.
The city, however, has never obtained trademarks related to "The Big Apple" phrase, according to the AP. But with Apple's three Manhattan retail stores and its trademark history, maybe the time is ripe for the city to do so.
didn't keep up on your own.
Only recently have you begun to revitalize your
business, however, in light of the recent
hacking contest where your OS was the first to
fall, I would say that griping about your
reputation being damaged by NYC's attempt at
going green with a nice looking logo - that I
wholeheartedly feel can never be confused with
yours - should be the last thing you need to be
doing.
Your trademark is safe. I think the Rainbow
Coalition would have more to gripe about than
you do considering which colors you originally
used in your logo...or am I confusing the two?
Apple in the news.. Green in the news...
Apple then says after considering it a good cause.. backs off..
A win win for everyone.
End of another BS story!
In other words... pull your head out of your butt, and smell the Apple Orchards!
Give us a break. I would prefer that we all sue Aplle for annoying the crap out of us.
What's next? Are they going to start suing manufacturers of apple juice? Mother nature herself? This is one of the stupidest things I have seen in the tech world.
The only people who can defend this are the brainless zombies who Apple covets. Anyone who can THINK, not just 'differently' but actually think think would see this as being completely ludicrous.
Shame on you Apple... shame on you for being so evil and overbearing that you would sue an environmental group over a logo that doesn't look anything remotely like yours. Shame on you Apple for believing us, the consumers are too f'n stupid to notice the difference.
The Latin name for the Genus of trees that produce Apples is "Malus".
The name derives from the Latin word for BAD - as the original fruit trees produced crab-apples rather than the cultivars we eat today.
So it seems particularly appropriate when rapacious corporate lawyers feel this is a justifable use of their time.
Shame on the big companies who think they own the rights to our historic language and names.
John
imagine that.
I guess taking on the Beatles wasn't enough. Let's go after the REAL big apple in our quest for global dumbination.
http://www.mopo.ca/uploaded_images/apple_tattoo-736300.jpg
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by stevenwhite1975
June 17, 2008 6:31 AM PDT
- I guess court will decide whether Apple's claims are baseless or not.
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See all 33 Comments >>I am Steven and my site is stevenwhite