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The Next MacBook Pro? Tesco should be Sued!

MrT8064

MrT8064

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 7, 2006
716
22
UK
Hi, Here in the UK the biggest supermarket chain is Tesco;

I was wandering around the other day, when i spotted an advert, which looked slightly MacBook Proish. On closer inspection, the keyboard and speakers were directly stolen from a 15" MacBook Pro, and the Touch Pad was replaced my a massive (Multi Touch) Touch Pad, the lines of the notebook were also fiddled arround with quite a lot;

but in essence this is a photoshopped MacBook Pro, is this legal?

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=110102&stc=1&d=1206973761

Sorry for the pictures bad quality, It will be great when the iPhone gets a better camera!
 

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Apple stuff gets ripped off all the time for faceless products in advertising, I don't think Apple would bother wasting their time with it, and indeed I wouldn't expect them to. It would just be pathetic and petty.

I mean really, it's just a silver laptop, it has no distinguishing features other than being fairly slim and obviously made of a silver metal.
 
FleurDuMal said:
As Tesco's own the Earth and all souls upon it, it'd be silly to sue them. :apple:
Click to expand...

hmmm, i am just interested as they have clearly stolen the design from apple, and there is not an apple logo on there what so ever, so theres no benefit for apple!

well, i suppose the TescoBook Pro doesnt have a Superdrive, iSight or infra red. but its not all bad, it must have a magnetic latch, and muti touch!
 
Nothing illegal about this at all. It's just Tesco's attempt to have a 'generic' computer - not a Mac, not a PC.

If they were actually building and selling computers like this then yes, there would be an issue.

This sort of thing goes on in ads all the time. Just look at any ad for car products (insurance etc.) - they're almost always de-badged and have a different grill or something. Just a few subtle changes so that it's not any car in particular.
 
Apple probably knows about it and is charging tesco some money for the use of their product. I've seen a dozen MBP's in advertisements recently, whenever the advertizer wants a generic but cool looking computer they use an MBP.
 
well, i really do like tescos multitouch pad, i wonder if they have a patent on this:rolleyes:
having the clicker at the side might be a great idea
 
Who cares?
Tesco isn't going to make any more money because this ad is using a computer that looks like a Mac. If this was the case then perhaps there'd be something to care about. There's no Apple logo so there's no foul.
 
I see MBP/PB in so many advertisements, and you cannot forget movies. I just saw an add earlier about yellowbook.com (USA) where they use a comp that looks like a MBP... It is good for us because the advertisers want to pick the most attractive product out there, which is what we are typing on right now..
 
Yes it can be considered a violation of a patent, but I don't think Apple really cares about this stuff. More free advertisement for them! I mean we saw this and immediately linked it to the MBP.
 
they cant be sued because this is not a direct photograph of an apple product. It is an obvious (poorly) photoshopped MBP. Apple holds a patent on existing design and product, not imaginary design, plus that thing is so ugly, apple would look like crap if they actually cared about this ad.
 
a parallel

Yet another parallel between Apple and Mercedes. "Generic" silhouettes of cars often look like Mercedes Benz's. Common worldwide, with design cues that are often copied by other manufactures, Mercedes tends to keep models the same for long periods of time, and despite what's under the hood, they look like your average car, albiet maybe a little nicer one. In contrast, a PT Cruiser or Hummer wouldn't be things I would identify with. Says something about the popularity of Apple.
 
Tesco is not selling a house brand laptop that looks like a MBP. If they did, and it looked like it does in the picture, then perhaps they can be sued.

However, in this usage, it's fine. There are tons of advertisements that use a MBP (or PowerBook), but have been altered. Most of these are in Apple/Mac related magazines, actually.
 
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