Apple and Fujitsu inevitably caught up in iPad trademark dispute
January 28, 2010
Well, here we go again. Apple might have stolen all the headlines yesterday with the iPad, but as we’ve already noted, that name has been in dispute since September — and it doesn’t look like Fujitsu, which has been selling its own iPad since 2002, is going to back down. “It’s our understanding that the name is ours,” Fujitsu PR director Masahiro Yamane told the New York Times. Maybe, but it’s not quite that simple. Here’s the deal: Fujitsu applied for the “iPad” mark in 2003, specifically covering handheld devices used in retail. (The Fujitsu iPad is a $2,000 Windows CE point-of-sale device.) Along the way, the application got bogged down because a company called Mag-Tek had already registered IPAD for its line of PIN-entry keypads, and Fujitsu’s application was listed as “abandoned” in April of 2009. The notice of abandonment apparently woke someone at Fujitsu up, because the company then asked the Trademark Office to re-open the application, arguing that Mag-Tek’s IPAD had nothing to do with the Fujitsu iPad. The USPTO agreed, re-opened the application, and the process continued until September, when the iPad application was published so other trademark holders could oppose registration. That’s when Apple signaled that it wasn’t so happy about things — and filed its own “iPad” trademark application using a shell company called “IP Application Development.”
Phew — still with us? That leaves us at now, with Mag-Tek selling the IPAD under a valid, registered trademark, Fujitsu selling an iPad with a pending trademark application, and Apple sucking all the air out of the room with the launch of the iPad and no US trademark at all. We’ll be honest: we’d always simply discounted rumors Apple would call it the iPad, because this is kind of a mess. Apple can’t just take “iPad” from Fujitsu because it really wants the name — it’s likely going to have to argue that “iPad” is confusingly similar to “iPod,” while still trying to register “iPad” on its own and telling the Trademark Office that it won’t be confusing to people looking for the Mag-Tek device, or the Siemens “iPad” motor trademark, or potentially even Coconut Grove’s trademarked iPad bras. Of course, all these problems can be solved with the direct application of cash and some nice ambient media attention, so it’s likely we’ll see some friendly joint PR from Apple and Fujitsu along with an agreement to share the name sometime before Apple’s formal opposition is due on February 28. That’s pretty much what happened when Apple bit the “iPhone” name from Cisco, anyway. But still — why can’t Apple ever learn to have these conversations ahead of time?
Apple and Fujitsu inevitably caught up in iPad trademark dispute originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | 
New York Times | Email this | Comments
HP files for ‘Zeen’ and ‘Airlife’ trademarks for handheld devices
December 30, 2009
Having only recently marked its return to the handheld computing space with the iPAQ Glisten, HP seems intent on forging ahead with more hardware in the coming year. The above trademark applications — filed in September and October 2009 — mark out some very broad categories, but we can narrow them down a little with the help of some context. Given all the industry excitement over tablet devices, the Zeen could well be the name of a forthcoming slate-shaped machine and accompanying software, while Airlife seems to be planted firmly in the smartphone arena. The moniker suggests a software ecosystem rather than actual hardware, but that would make little sense with just one handset out there; if we were the betting type (and believe us, we aren’t), we’d probably expect to see more mobiles coming from the computing giant in order to take advantage. Of course, companies don’t always follow through on trademark applications, but it sure seems as if HP is casting a wary eye over the burgeoning handheld market (and / or planning to not get left behind in the months ahead).
HP files for ‘Zeen’ and ‘Airlife’ trademarks for handheld devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink 
New York Times | USPTO (Zeen), USPTO (Airlife) | Email this | Comments
Apple, Woolworths in Australian trademark dispute, media in hysterically confused panic
October 5, 2009
Oh boy. So if you haven’t already seen some news on this, Apple’s opposing the formal registration of the Australian grocery store Woolworths’ logo, pictured above. We’ll be honest: we saw this story when it was first reported last night by The Age, and we passed on it. Why? Because while we’re not experts in Australian trademark law, we happen to have an ex-US trademark attorney on staff (cough), and the Australian system is similar enough to the US system that a simple notice of opposition just isn’t that interesting. Here’s what’s really going on, outside of the sad media frenzy that surrounds anything Apple does: in both the US and Australian systems, a trademark registration is applied for with the appropriate federal agency — the USPTO, or, in this case, IP Australia. After a period of review by that office for eligibility, it’s then published for other companies to review and potentially oppose because it would cause confusion with their own marks. This is the fundamental essence of the trademark process, and every company with a major mark goes through it several times a year — it’s not a lawsuit, and there’s no judge or jury, just the trademark examiner. Sure, there are some potentially meaningful and expensive consequences, but filing and responding to oppositions is something that any trademark attorney does quite frequently, and it’s not like Apple’s aggressively suing anyone here. It’s just part of the process.
We’d also like to note that all these stories today have but a single source, and that Apple actually filed their notice of opposition in March but no one noticed until Woolworths talked to The Age. If we had to bet we’d say this is a tactical move by Woolworth’s PR team to churn public opinion before Apple’s September 16 filing deadline — and if it is, well, congratulations to them, because it certainly looks to us like the reality of this story has been totally overshadowed by the second, slightly more fictional story the tech media would like to tell. Sure, it’ll be big news if Apple’s opposition is successful and Woolworths registration is denied — and we’ll obviously cover it if it happens — but chances are that Woolworths and Apple’s highly-paid attorneys are going to quietly go through the trademark process and come out with an agreement, and we’ll never hear about this again. Until the next time everyone gets this story wrong.
Update: Oh, and just to make this perfectly clear, Woolworths’ application covers “Retailing and wholesaling services including… electronic stores,” so there’s definitely overlap here.
Read – Original story in The Age
Read – Woolworths trademark filing 1258297
Read – Woolworths trademark filing 1258298
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets
Apple, Woolworths in Australian trademark dispute, media in hysterically confused panic originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Nokia throws "Xseries" into the ring, too?
July 20, 2009
You know the saying “where there’s smoke, there’s fire”? Yeah, well, this is kind of like that, except its.. uh, “where there’s Cseries, there’s Xseries.” Stay with us: on Saturday we reported that Nokia had filed for a trademark on the “Cseries” name, ostensibly for a new line of smartphones, MIDs, or netbooks to complement its existing Nseries and Eseries lines. Now it seems the intriguing-sounding “Xseries” is in the mix, too, thanks to details coughed up by the EU’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market. This particular mark was filed in Switzerland, but something tells us they don’t just plan on selling some crazy new line of devices in the Alps, if you know what we’re saying; like the Cseries, though, the question of what the Xseries is exactly remains to be answered.
[Via digitoday, thanks Pasi]
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Laptops
Nokia throws “Xseries” into the ring, too? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 00:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Nokia files for "Cseries" trademark — but what’s it for?
July 18, 2009
Those who follow Nokia know that its phone lineup is divided roughly into three segments: the Nseries, populated by high-end, media-heavy smartphones (plus the N770, N800, and N810 tablets); the Eseries, concentrating on business, and the four-digit line, which acts as a catch-all for anything not deserving of an Nseries or Eseries designation. It looks like Espoo could be prepping to add a fourth line into the mix, though, on news that they’ve gone ahead and trademarked “Cseries” in Finland. What “C” stands for is anyone’s guess, but this does dovetail nicely with the near-constant stream of information suggesting Nokia will be driving hard with MIDs and netbooks later this year and next, so maybe the “C” stands for “computer.” Of course, it could also stand for “crap,” so we’ve just got to wait and see what becomes of this little moniker.
[Via puhelinvertailu]
Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Laptops
Nokia files for “Cseries” trademark — but what’s it for? originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
iPhone facing potential trademark issues in China?
July 2, 2009
[Via mocoNews.net]
Filed under: Cellphones
iPhone facing potential trademark issues in China? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
