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Well, it's not like Apple's lawyers are infallible: they have been defeated in court in the past and they could very well be defeated over this too.

The main issue is that trademark protection incentivizes companies to sue even if they actually know very well that they don't have much of a case.
No lawyers are infallible. If that were the case we wouldn't need courts.

If by "incentivizes companies to sue" you mean because they don't want to lose their trademark then yes it does. Perhaps the law could be changed so it wasn't like this but as it stands we have what we have.
 
If you don’t defend your trademark, even if the logo in question isn‘t close, you could (over time) end up losing your trademark.

Sorry man, but that’s just BS. If that were true, why isn’t Apple also suing Microsoft, Starbucks, IBM, SpaceX, Tesla, Home Depot, U Haul, IKEA, or BMW? Those are just some companies that came to mind, but the list could include literally any company or entity with a logo. None of those logos are close, but according to you Apple needs to sue them to protect its trademark.
 
Could you elaborate?

The short version: If you do not "vigorously" defend your trademark, it is a slippery slope towards your trademark no longer being legally enforceable at all.

And then its on for one and all to sell rip off stuff using your actual trademark.

Apple pretty much have to pursue this to some degree, even if they settle out of court to demonstrate that they "care" about their trademark and establish legal precedent that confirms that.
 
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None of those logos are close, but according to you Apple needs to sue them to protect its trademark.

And that's why they haven't been taken to court.

If I made a company logo that was basically a silhouette of an orange, apple would come after me. Or a tomato. Or anything even half-remotely similar. To demonstrate they care about their trademark. If they allow a pear to slip through then why not an orange? If they allow an orange to slip through then why not a different coloured Apple?

Not pursuing this blurs the lines of what is and is not what apple will accept, and once the lines are blurred they can get much blurrier real fast.

You can be damn sure that if I called my company lBM (stylised with a lowercase L), IBM would sue me. If I made my company logo "intool" (in lowercase) intel would sue me, most likely. etc.
 
Sorry man, but that’s just BS. If that were true, why isn’t Apple also suing Microsoft, Starbucks, IBM, SpaceX, Tesla, Home Depot, U Haul, IKEA, or BMW? Those are just some companies that came to mind, but the list could include literally any company or entity with a logo. None of those logos are close, but according to you Apple needs to sue them to protect its trademark.
that’s a strawman argument. There are obviously degrees-of-closeness.

your Argument is also based on the false premise that apple is suing this pear company. They aren’t. They are merely filing an opposition to the pear company’s attempt to gain a trademark on pears (thus preventing OTHER companies from using pears or similar fruit-like shapes) in their logos.
 
that’s a strawman argument. There are obviously degrees-of-closeness.

your Argument is also based on the false premise that apple is suing this pear company. They aren’t. They are merely filing an opposition to the pear company’s attempt to gain a trademark on pears (thus preventing OTHER companies from using pears or similar fruit-like shapes) in their logos.
I could have bought this argument if Apple did not sue other companies in similar circumstances like they did the Australian grocery chain.
 
Don't see Apple on the right side of this to be honest.

They let this go?

applebees-logo-black-and-white.png
 
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Before all the youngsters enter. They need to do this to defend their own logo. Go read law.

Speaking of youngsters, why haven't you been sued yet? You're more in violation than they are here with your Macrumors identity.

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This is why I do not like Tim Cook. These are things that BEAN COUNTERS DO, count their BEANS and defend them against anyone who might even accidentally get close to them.
 
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The short version: If you do not "vigorously" defend your trademark, it is a slippery slope towards your trademark no longer being legally enforceable at all.

And then its on for one and all to sell rip off stuff using your actual trademark.

Apple pretty much have to pursue this to some degree, even if they settle out of court to demonstrate that they "care" about their trademark and establish legal precedent that confirms that.
I assume the law applies equally to all companies so they all have to "vigorously" defend their trademarks, right? Could you give us an example of, say, Samsung defending their logo as vigorously as Apple? Or, perhaps, Apple is defending their logo more vigorously than other companies?
 
Please, for the love of dog, try to use paragraphs when posting.





...based on Cook's recent disclosure that the segment is now the size of a Fortune 150 company.

Apple pretty much commands 50% of the smart watch market. They sell more than ask the Swiss Watch industry combined. Sales are increasing year on year. They sold ~30 million units last year.

Only you can attempt to downplay these facts.

Given your apparent inability to accept facts there's really no further point in trying to discuss this any further as it's obvious you prefer to type in fantastical posts based on imagination and flights of fancy, rather than those rooted in facts.
Once again, you start your reply with childish insult/shaming. It really doesn't matter. As a shareholder I am fine with how it is currently going, you are making me money but that doesn't have to mean I have to be an apple fanboy and not be able to get out of the Apple bubble where anything Apple does is amazing and no criticism allowed because Tim Cook gives you shiny things to love and builds up a massive amount of revenue. That still doesn't make him a great CEO And as for being also a long time consumer of Apple, Tim sucks when it comes to anything that is not financial related IMO.

Yeah the Apple Watch sells the most watches in the smart watch consumer market but that doesn't make it innovative or game changing. A surface book sells a lot less than a MacBook but guess what the surface book is way more inventive than a MacBook. Actually every single 2in1 is more inventive. You seem to think huge market share automatically means the product is the best and greatest. If that was so then how is Microsoft Windows on many more PC,s than Mac OS is on?
I did better paragraph structure for you so it's not as annoying for you... And I have an honest question, what was your first Apple Product. I really would like to know.
 
I’ve seen movies where someone is using a Mac laptop but because of legal reasons, they’ve swapped the lit Apple logo for a pear. If those movies didn’t get sued, why is this company getting sued?
 
And that's why they haven't been taken to court.

If I made a company logo that was basically a silhouette of an orange, apple would come after me. Or a tomato. Or anything even half-remotely similar. To demonstrate they care about their trademark. If they allow a pear to slip through then why not an orange? If they allow an orange to slip through then why not a different coloured Apple?

Not pursuing this blurs the lines of what is and is not what apple will accept, and once the lines are blurred they can get much blurrier real fast.

You can be damn sure that if I called my company lBM (stylised with a lowercase L), IBM would sue me. If I made my company logo "intool" (in lowercase) intel would sue me, most likely. etc.

My point is the logos aren’t even remotely similar. No one could confuse them. Jaguar should sue that pear company too, since both logos are of physical objects.
 
I’ve seen movies where someone is using a Mac laptop but because of legal reasons, they’ve swapped the lit Apple logo for a pear. If those movies didn’t get sued, why is this company getting sued?
This company is not getting sued. Nowhere does it say they are being sued.
 
I’ve seen movies where someone is using a Mac laptop but because of legal reasons, they’ve swapped the lit Apple logo for a pear. If those movies didn’t get sued, why is this company getting sued?
The reason they do this is so they don't have to pay Apple any loyalty rights and still use macs on screen and I don't know the exact law but Apple can't go after them for some reason, plus its free marketing because you really know its a Mac instead of some type of fruit PC. But believe me if, Apple had their way they would have still charged for it.
 
The reason they do this is so they don't have to pay Apple any loyalty rights and still use macs on screen and I don't know the exact law but Apple can't go after them for some reason, plus its free marketing because you really know its a Mac instead of some type of fruit PC. But believe me if, Apple had their way they would have still charged for it.
The reason they do it is because they don’t want to provide advertisements for any companies unless they are getting paid by those companies.
 
honestly i didn't even read that as a pear, thought it was a squash of some sort. but, apple, not your best moment. of course i'm not sure what "consequences" the pear company was referring to...
 
This is the whole point of why Apple is doing this. To keep your trademark you need to actively defend it. Even at times when defending it feels absurd, you have no choice but doing it. It's a requirement of trademark law. Also if Apple didn't, it would open up precedents to others who do want to infringe of Apple's trademarks.

[edit]Those disagreeing with this - why do you not like the facts?

I'm not educated on this.
Are you saying that a company, once a while, has to pick another unrelated company to sue for trademark infringement or else the said company loses the ownership of trademark?
 
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I'm not educated on this.
Are you saying that a company, once a while, has to pick another unrelated company to sue for trademark infringement or else the said company loses the ownership of trademark?

Nobody said that. And apple did not sue anybody.

That said, if you have a trademark you do have to defend it or risk losing it. Defending it could include, as in this case, objecting to a trademark proposed by another company if you believe that there is a risk that consumers might associate their proposed trademark with your own.
 
I’m sure it’s been said here before but no one reads every comment so I’ll say it again. If you have a trademark and don’t defend it you lose your trademark. If Apple did not sue for infringing on the trademarks they would lose the right to the trademark

This is what I don't understand.

Are they legally required to sue for an unrelated logo?
 


Apple is taking legal action against the developers of the app "Prepear" due to its logo, according to iPhone in Canada.

prepear-vs-apple.jpg


Prepear is an app that helps users discover recipes, plan meals, make lists, and arrange grocery deliveries. The app is a spinoff of "Super Healthy Kids," and the founders claim that they are facing litigation from Apple. Apple reportedly takes issue with Prepear's logo, arguing that its attributes are too similar to its own logo.

The company said via a post on Instagram that Apple "has decided to oppose and go after our small business' trademark saying our pear logo is too close to their apple logo and supposedly hurts their brand". The post goes on to describe the action as "a big blow to us at Prepear," and sets out the intention to retain the original logo and "send a message to big tech companies that bullying small businesses has consequences."

The company has launched a Change.org petition in an attempt to persuade Apple to "drop its opposition of the Prepear Logo, and help stop big tech companies from abusing their position of power by going after small businesses like ours who are already struggling due to the affects of Covid-19."

Prepear says that it is a "very small business" with only five team members, and explains that legal costs from the dispute have already cost thousands of dollars and the layoff of a team member.



The petition has currently reached almost 9,000 signatures, and the founders hope it will reach 10,000.

Prepear says that Apple "has opposed dozens of other trademark applications filed by small businesses with fruit related logos," even in cases where the logo or industry is dissimilar to Apple's. Logos have been the source of legal action by Apple in the past, such as the case against a Norwegian political party and a German cycling path.

Update: Image from the trademark opposition paperwork filed by Apple:

claim.png


Article Link: Apple Takes Legal Action Against Small Company With Pear Logo
I seem to remember a movie from the 1980s in which someone is buying a computer and the sales person asks, “Do you want an apple or a pear?” I don’t remember if there was an actual pear computer back in those days but Apple was in no position to defend that trademark back then. Especially since Apple was later sued by the Apple record label for borrowing the Apple as an inspiration as it was associated with the Beetles.

As they say, everything is a remix.
 
This is what I don't understand.

Are they legally required to sue for an unrelated logo?

No. And they didn’t sue.

But if you allow others to use a mark similar to yours, your own mark could lose its distinctiveness (among other problems) and you could end up losing your own mark.
 
Nobody said that. And apple did not sue anybody.

That said, if you have a trademark you do have to defend it or risk losing it. Defending it could include, as in this case, objecting to a trademark proposed by another company if you believe that there is a risk that consumers might associate their proposed trademark with your own.

Right, my bad, Apple didn't sue. Was not reading carefully.
 
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