That's not how trademark law works though. Just because apples are a common, 20 million year old fruit doesn't mean Apple can't trademark the brand Apple in relation to computers and personal electronics.
Re:Waymo Via
by dumbfoundded on Wednesday March 04, 2020 @03:48PM
(#22487911)
Trademarks matter in context a lot. An Apple branded computer is a lot stronger than an Apple branded apple.
They choose a brand name bordering on descriptive. If it's descriptive, ie "Great Computer Co.", it's pretty weak. It'll be tough to own "Via" for anything in transportation.
That would be like owning the trademark "General Electric" and selling electrical equipment...
Re:Waymo Via
by dumbfoundded on Wednesday March 04, 2020 @08:18PM
(#22490023)
Well, General Electric predates many of the Supreme Court rulings that establish American trademark law.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Supreme_...
Re:Waymo Via
by titanomachy on Wednesday March 04, 2020 @08:15PM
(#22490007)
International Business Machines
General Electric
General Motors
Advanced Micro Devices
To be fair, all were among the first companies to make the thing they are named for.
... which is why you never see any other companies with "electric" or "electronics" in their name.
What a funny example to pick:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer.
Apple got sued for basically exactly that because another company already had that trademark!
Anyone who picked it as a trademark for anything knew what they were getting themselves into.