Re:Apple Is Taking Legal Action Against a Small Company Beca...
by izacus on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:41AM
(#24107663)
> I'm all for calling out big companies when they do crappy things, but you have to be seen to defend your trademarks & the system to allow businesses to contest trademark applications is there for a reason.
I always see this "defense" when big corporations abuse small companies by frivolous lawsuits... but with this you're actually saying that there's a chance someone will mix up a fruit logo of that small company with Apple's which is ridiculous. Especially since they don't share the market.
Please don't defend abusive corporations with this :/
Re:Apple Is Taking Legal Action Against a Small Company Beca...
by syshum on Monday August 10, 2020 @06:52AM
(#24107735)
Apple is not “required” to enforce its mark in every instance or risk losing it. The circumstances under which a company could actually lose a trademark—such as abandonment and genericide—are quite limited. Genericide occurs when a trademark becomes the standard term for a type of good (‘zipper’ and ‘escalator’ being two famous examples). This is very rare and would not be a problem for Apple unless people start saying “Apple” simply to mean “smart device.” Courts also set a very high bar to show abandonment (usually years of total non-use). Importantly, failure to enforce a mark against every potential infringer does not show abandonment
[1] https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/trademark-law-does-not...
Re:Apple Is Taking Legal Action Against a Small Company Beca...
by JetSpiegel on Monday August 10, 2020 @11:17AM
(#24110170)
> ‘zipper’ and ‘escalator’ being two famous examples
Or "iPad".
Re:Apple Is Taking Legal Action Against a Small Company Beca...
by syshum on Monday August 10, 2020 @11:29AM
(#24110338)
I dont think that has caught on to use anything other than referring to a Apple Made tabelt device
Tablet is still the naming for other non-apple devices though it seems the market has given up on them instead perfering larger phones
I'm all for calling out big companies when they do crappy things, but you have to be seen to defend your trademarks & the system to allow businesses to contest trademark applications is there for a reason.