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

lamina said:
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.
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Re: Cisco: Apple settled with them for the trademark.

Re: Mighty Mouse trademark: While this other company first used the trademark in 2004, it appears they didn't try to register it until December 2007, so it would have been more difficult for Apple to figure out that there was another company using the mark before them since it probably wasn't in the USPTO database at the time. Under US law the earlier date of first use in commerce determines who gets the mark if two companies have been continuously using the mark.
 
Okay, fine. Will someone just please, please, PLEASE kill off the Mighty Mouse now? It is so horribly bad and overpriced I don't even see how it could possibly have survived this long, let alone why anyone would use it.
Blaaarrgh.
 
lamina said:
Naming a mouse "Mighty Mouse"?! Wasn't that a cartoon character a long time ago?
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Yes, and that was part of the naming idea; a subtle word play to conjure up retro images of Mighty Mouse. He was a hero to Baby Boomers from the 40s to the 60's and even Gen X'ers loved Mighty Mouse in reruns. He was much more studly than Mickey and had a hotter girl-mouse friend too, though she was always getting into trouble.

Also, if you noticed Apple licensed the "Mighty Mouse" name from CBS, who own's the rights to the Mighty Mouse cartoon. Of course we now know they don't own the rights to the name when applied to computer peripherals.

It was a clever name for a mouse, but it never matched Mighty Mouse's bravado.

Eruanno said:
Okay, fine. Will someone just please, please, PLEASE kill off the Mighty Mouse now? It is so horribly bad and overpriced I don't even see how it could possibly have survived this long, let alone why anyone would use it.
Blaaarrgh.
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I agree it sucks but guessing Apple didn't sell to many as stand-alones, but made enough money from it as a pack it. Apple probably makes so little money from them its not worth the R&D $ to keep refining it. Honestly, Apple should just rebadge a Logitech MX as it's pack-in mouse on the iMac, and not even include a mouse or keyboard in the Mac Pro (provided they also cut the price too).
 
OllyW said:
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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The company that named the mouse didn't do their research either.

Seriously, who haven't seen the cartoon mighty mouse?
 
Well, the company just got the TradeMark now. Therefore Apple can just rename it now without due cause.

Now, if Apple says it will continue to use the name after hearing this, that is bad on their part. I believe they have time to make a change in the name and on their packaging without incurring any fees. You can't just suddenly hope that all packaging will change right away.

I do not see anything wrong with this. the name was not registered prior and Apple just took it. (technically it may have been in the registration process, but until they get the ® it is hard to say who owns the rights. that company could have closed up and Apple would have been given it.
 
so inconsequential

the company got some free press out of this. let them go ahead and try to sue Apple. They'll be tied up in the court for years.

or....

Apple could just use another name; problem solved and this asinine company can return to irrelevance.
 
I have had it with the "Mouse" metaphor for pointing devices. "Mouse" only made sense when these had "tails"; now that many are wireless, we should move on.

I propose a name based on something that trumps all Mice:


"Cat"
 
Chupa Chupa said:
Honestly, Apple should just rebadge a Logitech MX as it's pack-in mouse on the iMac, and not even include a mouse or keyboard in the Mac Pro (provided they also cut the price too).
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I would agree, as long as the mouse (it has to be one button of course!) and keyboard do not suggest anything MS and uses Apple's logos and what not. No "Windows Logo" button.

Otherwise it would never fly with Apple.
 
Couldn't they (Apple) just name it the "Apple Mighty Mouse". :confused:

Either way just give it a new name.:rolleyes:

If they really were watching their toes I wouldn't even use the word mouse just in case...:p
 
RyanR. said:
Couldn't they (Apple) just name it the "Apple Mighty Mouse". :confused:
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Legally no. The result would be the same if they called their OS "Apple Windows". Its not the Apple that matters, its the fact they are using the "Mighty Mouse" name for a product on the market.

Either way just give it a new name.:rolleyes:
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Well that's the obvious part.

If they really were watching their toes I wouldn't even use the word mouse just in case...:p
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They could use that - the term "mouse" is arguably generic enough to encompass the entire market of pointing devices and not referencing a specific one. If that we the case, nobody could use the word "mouse" in their product name like Microsoft does.
 
lamina said:
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.
.
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Apple had a compelling business reason to use "iPhone" and only "iPhone", in that Apple possessed billions of dollars of marketing goodwill in the "i" prefix. "iPhone" is an "iPod" with a phone attached-- what else would you call it? So Apple was willing to pay any reasonable price to Cisco to get this right. The negotiations took place over a long period of time, in advance of the product release. Additionally, Cisco didn't place a lot of value on their own use of the name-- the products were not well known or particularly successful; and furthermore, given the amazing popularity of the iPod, Cisco was concerned about a possible market backlash if they did not allow Apple to use the name.
 
OllyW said:
If you had bothered to look into this you would know that the trademark case they have just won was against CBS for the right to use the name for computer peripherals.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/07/mighty-mouse-trademark-awarded-to-man-and-machine-mister-trouble/
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Thank you. This is one of the silliest discussions I've ever read here. Man & Machine has just been awarded this trademark, and Apple has done nothing wrong. Apple paid CBS for the rights to the name instead of taking them to court as Man & Machine seems to have done. Apple is not being sued, they're just mentioned in the article.

Now Apple will either rename their mouse, or pay for the rights to continue to use the name. Nothing to see here.
 
New Apple Mouse

Man, I can't wait until they come out with something sweet! I've been using this Kensington Trackball mouse for some time now, little outdated and yet it is the best I've found. For something that gets the most use, it sure is bad. I don't care how much a new Apple Mouse costs, just as long as it does the job... And then some!
 
So does this ruling mean that Apple has to stop using the Mighty Mouse name immediately and change all of their existing packaging and advertising? Or can they just keep right on as is and see if the other company sues them or goes for an injunction? I'm just curious because I don't know how these legal mattes are handled.
 
RaZaK said:
the company got some free press out of this. let them go ahead and try to sue Apple. They'll be tied up in the court for years.

or....

Apple could just use another name; problem solved and this asinine company can return to irrelevance.
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Or Apple can do what it always does. Settle out of court, and then people here will declare Apple untouchable. You'd be surprise how many cases Apple just settles because they try and push the envelope as far as possible.
 
Did anyone go and check out the Man & Machine Mighty mouse? It actually looks like a great mouse for its task.
 
sishaw said:
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.
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So I can market a "Mickey Mouse" without having to worry then?
 
mscriv said:
So does this ruling mean that Apple has to stop using the Mighty Mouse name immediately and change all of their existing packaging and advertising? Or can they just keep right on as is and see if the other company sues them or goes for an injunction? I'm just curious because I don't know how these legal mattes are handled.
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My guess for its current product line, they will be just fine - the trademarks on that were based on a legitimate licensing that Apple got in good faith. My guess is that Apple will be able to continue using that - Man & Machine hasn't gone after Apple because that licensing was done legit. Apple is most likely going to simply pay M&M instead of CBS now. Apple's licensing agreement between them an CBS isn't automatically void - M&M would have to re-negotiate with Apple. That's M&M legal right.

Apple will have to either rename a future product or simply continue their license (trouble is, M&M would be less willing to do that due to the name being exactly the same)
 
NightFox said:
So I can market a "Mickey Mouse" without having to worry then?
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I think you'd probably eventually win the ensuing case, although you would be homeless and penniless, however, by the time Disney got done with you. I never said Disney couldn't sue you, or that it would be a good idea, I just said there isn't confusion.

Although Apple could claim there is confusion with their Mighty Mouse, as could this other company with the prior name, and they would probably have a better case due to the similarity of the names.

So you'd be sued by three parties. If you want to risk it, go ahead.
 
NightFox said:
So I can market a "Mickey Mouse" without having to worry then?
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"Mickey" is very specific, "Mighty" is less so, but it's irrelevant - "Mighty Mouse" no matter what it's context has implicit linkage with the cartoon just like "Mickey Mouse" does. That's why Apple contacted CBS - for the limited name rights.

We open up a whole 'nother can of worms when we brink up public domain stuff too (of course neither Mickey nor Mighty mouse are public domain yet)
 
This is great news. Now apple can put the disaster that is the (Apple) Mighty Mouse behind them and move on to new ergonomic disasters like the TouchMouse or the Apple Mouse Touch or the iTouchMyMouse (or just call it the iTouch so that we can resume flaming people who (incorrectly) use the term.

Sadly, the above are still far more likely than the possibility that Apple releases a proper 2-button mouse with a scroll wheel that doesn't suck.

Even still, I'd probably use a Logitech or MS mouse anyway. They're great. (And I'm hoping that the MX Revolution comes in a standalone BT model or package it with the DiNovo Edge).

Also, I'm sure Apple could use "Mickey" if it decided to. Jobs does, afterall, own a huge amount of Disney stock.
 
How about the "Mighty Rat" instead?

Either way I much rather use Logitech mice even though the Mac software support from Logitech is pretty poor. I'd rather hear new stuff about an updated Apple keyboard, give me backlit keys and I'll buy it.:D
 
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