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'Mighty Mouse' Trademark Awarded to Peripherals Manufacturer Man & Machine

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Apr 12, 2001
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TechCrunch reports that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded a trademark for the "Mighty Mouse" term in its "computer cursor control devices" category to Man & Machine, a Landover, Maryland company specializing in waterproof keyboards and mice for medical and industrial settings.

Man & Machine has offered several generations of its Mighty Mouse product, claiming a priority date in its trademark application of March 16th, 2004 as the company's first use of the term in commerce. Apple introduced its original Mighty Mouse in August 2005.
The company has a press release for the trademark decision; clearly, they are jazzed about the win.

And they should be. Though they never mention Apple by name, they do say that "Others have used the name Mighty Mouse for their computer mice and have sought registration of that trademark, but now the United States government has spoken."
Click to expand...
Apple is widely expected to introduce a new mouse in the near future, with drawings of a new Bluetooth keyboard and mouse having appeared on the U.S. Federal Communications Commission's website for a brief period last week before being removed.

Article Link: 'Mighty Mouse' Trademark Awarded to Peripherals Manufacturer Man & Machine
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/10/08/mighty-mouse-trademark-awarded-to-peripherals-manufacturer-man-and-machine/
Nobody heard of this company before this. Not due to Apple's fault.

Erwin-Br said:
Choosing a stupid name for your product is one thing, unoriginal is another. Especially if you claim to be a creative company that "Thinks Different".
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Without apple, you probably won't be using GUI or a mouse.
 
Quick! Everyone sue Apple for things that happened years ago on irrelevant products! Are lawyers on sale this month or something?
 
apple doesnt care about this or that company. If they want to continue using the name, they will. Who's to stop them. Litigation over the suit would last for years and most likely put that little company out of business.

Look at iPhone. Apple went out and introduced the new product as iPhone without even owning the name. (cisco still owns it...but apple can use it after the nice little payment made to cisco).
 
I really think that Apple likes to see how far they can push things before they're sued. Like come on. Naming a mouse "Mighty Mouse"?! Wasn't that a cartoon character a long time ago?
 
For a company so obsessive about its own trademarks, Apple don't seem to careful about whose other trademarks/monikers they adopt.. "Mighty Mouse", "Classic", "iPhone".... "Apple"!

That said, it shouldn't be too difficult to pick a new name. The Mucky Mouse? The Impotent Rodent? The iRoller (or perhaps the iMoveForNoMan?)
 
Consultant said:
Nobody heard of this company before this. Not due to Apple's fault.
Click to expand...

I don't agree : if Apple wants to use a trademark name it's not more than logical that they check whether the product-name is already on the market. In this case it's a computer mouse as well, and they should've checked more thoroughly. No excuses, first is first... and it's a lame name anyway ;)
 
lamina said:
I really think that Apple likes to see how far they can push things before they're sued. Like come on. Naming a mouse "Mighty Mouse"?! Wasn't that a cartoon character a long time ago?
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There's no possibility of confusion between a computer mouse and a cartoon mouse, though. An element of trademark violation is whether the offending mark creates confusion in the market. Apple could purchase this other company's rights, though, if they really want to keep the name.
 
^^ when you are a multi-national multi-billion per year company...it is your responsibility to check with the patent office before you release a peice of equipment to make sure that you are not infringing upon another's rights to a name, design or trademark. IT IS APPLE's fault!. They knew about this and was banking on the fact that the other company would not win the trademark case....but they did....now they are screwed like Microsoft was.
 
Erwin-Br said:
Choosing a stupid name for your product is one thing, unoriginal is another. Especially if you claim to be a creative company that "Thinks Different".
Click to expand...

Don't overreact. This happens every day. There are very few original names left which is why some companies create words like hulu and zune. They still think different which is why you have all their ***** and are a regular on this forum. It'll be okay.
 
ts1973 said:
I don't agree : if Apple wants to use a trademark name it's not more than logical that they check whether the product-name is already on the market. In this case it's a computer mouse as well, and they should've checked more thoroughly. No excuses, first is first... and it's a lame name anyway ;)
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The PTO has an on-line database where you can check for registered trademarks. Anyone can use it.
 
Erwin-Br said:
Choosing a stupid name for your product is one thing, unoriginal is another. Especially if you claim to be a creative company that "Thinks Different".
Click to expand...

So What this article is saying is that several hundered or so miles away, or 3000 (LOL), someone at Apple said, hm, Might y Mouse, that's a good name, then they find out it was used?

It's a god mouse but everyone breaks after one year, and the wireless is way over priced, just call it it, Apple Mouse, then people can expect the high price.
:D
 
spillproof said:
Quick! Everyone sue Apple for things that happened years ago on irrelevant products! Are lawyers on sale this month or something?
Click to expand...

It's not irrelevant. It is a product in the same industry and there exists a possibility of confusion between the two trademarks, unlike the cartoon character where there could be no confusion. Sounds like a legitimate beef to me, although of course Apple has the coin to purchase this other company's mark.
 
OllyW said:
Apple actually got permission to use the name from CBS who made the cartoon series.
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Thanks for that. I didn't know.

But what about the Cisco vs Apple deal when Apple was thinking of a name for its phone? Cisco owns the trademark. Apple knows this, but goes on to use another company's name idea anyway.

Apple represents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the world represents anything else...

I hope that made sense. It's late.
 
ts1973 said:
I don't agree : if Apple wants to use a trademark name it's not more than logical that they check whether the product-name is already on the market. In this case it's a computer mouse as well, and they should've checked more thoroughly. No excuses, first is first... and it's a lame name anyway ;)
Click to expand...

Let's see, before Apple introduced the mouse in the name, if you search for
Mighty Mouse, you will get the cartoon character.

Who didn't do their research?
 
Steve has pull with Disney. Expect to see the Apple-branded Mickey Mouse out soon.
 
Consultant said:
Let's see, before Apple introduced the mouse in the name, if you search for
Mighty Mouse, you will get the cartoon character.

Who didn't do their research?
Click to expand...

Apple are in the wrong. They need to pay up or re-name the mouse.

If the rumours of the touch mouse are true it will probably have a new name anyway.
 
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