Apple seems to have a pretty simple philosophy when it comes to announcing new products — announce today, worry about the legalities tomorrow. iCloud Communications has taken Apple to task over the trademark of iCloud. iCloud Communications is claiming that Apple’s use of the term iCloud is damaging not only their brand, but also their business. They’re demanding that Apple turn over all “all labels, signs, prints, insignia, letterhead, brochures, business cards, invoices and any other written or recorded material” for destruction.
This isn’t the first time that Apple’s faced legal troubles after making an announcement at a keynote:
- Apple announced the iPhone, despite Cisco’s trademark .
- Apple was sued for iAd by Innovative Media, who held the trademark for iAd.
- Apple was sued by The Beatles for their use of the term Apple.
- Apple was sued for their use of the term Mighty Mouse by a company called Man & Machines who apparently had a similar product (a mouse) with a similar name.
- A Hong Kong firm sued Apple over their use of the word iPad.
- Tiger Direct sued Apple for using the name Tiger for their major OS X upgrade in 2005.
As you can see, this happens quite a bit. Some of these lawsuits were a little more respectable than others, but for the most part, Apple’s announce now and deal with the legal ramifications later approach has landed them in some hot water from time to time. Why do I point this all out? Well, according to the filing by iCloud Communications, Apple “willfully” does this time and again, and they’re asking someone to put a stop to it. That’s their words, not ours. If you want to read more about the claim, and read the complaint in its entirety, check out The Next Web article.
Article Via The Next Web
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Of course, the irony in it all is that the prefix "i" was really made famous by Apple. I don't remember anyone using "i" as a prefix for a product before Apple came out with the iMac, iBook, iPod etc. (ya, Earthlink's iChat...whatever)
There is nothing "cloud" about their services iCloud Communications provides in the sense of how cloud services are provided today. What they have isnt' cloud services. They sell VoIP handsets and software.
iPhone was the only real legitimate case I think among those listed.
iAd: "oh look, Apple prefixes everything with 'i' so lets do the same, appear like we're hip and cool like Apple, get all this free trust by association, they sue them when they try to use it."
Beatles: By this logic, perhaps Chiquita Banana should sue Banana Republic... gimme a break!
Man and machine: they should have both been sued by 20th Century Fox.
iPad: See iAd above
Tiger Direct: Which proves that if apple wanted to avoid being sued, they should have named their OS' after marsupials. Gimme a break. If anything, Apples OS name has overvalued your brand's reputation for old/passe/overstock hardware... maybe even more than circuit city did.
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