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Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

wired.com

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Re: Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

#81

Post by mcv »

SoftTalker wrote: post #37
surgical_fire wrote: post #18

It would be fun if they lost also the trademark of any apple-related image, including their silly bitten apple logo. Really, fuck IP and trademark laws. I see it as a net negative. I would rather throw this cursed baby away along with its shit water.

How about fuck Apple? This is not the intent of IP and trademark laws, and Apple are the ones actually trying to abuse these laws to their advantage.

Apple are far from the only ones trying to do this sort of thing. In the past, we've seen companies trademark specific colours, common words ("windows"), and lots of other things.

What trademark offices and judges need to remember is that the only reason trademarks exist, is to protect customers against impostors. Any trademark case that doesn't involve even the slightest chance of impersonation or confused customers, should be slapped down hard with a fine for the company bringing the lawsuit.

Re: Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

#82

Post by Springtime »

colejohnson66 wrote: post #5
Springtime wrote: post #2

Was puzzling they didn't include an image of said logo[1]. IIRC I've observed this for some other articles in the past covering trademark disputes. Is there a common reason they might do this? [1] https://www.swissfruit.ch/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/sov_new...

Trademarks, unlike copyright, are "use and protect it or lose it". There's no "expiry" date on them like copyrighted things have because brands sometimes live for over a hundred years. Letting someone take your companies name and logo just because you're "too old" isn't fair. This is because trademarks, unlike copyright, aren't about science and innovation; they're about preventing consumer confusion. Not protecting…

I was just meaning if there was a reason why articles exclude the logos in question but I suppose this reply generated its own comment chain :p

Re: Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

#83

Post by ddingus »

jeroen wrote: post #33
hu3 wrote: post #6

> THE FRUIT UNION Suisse is 111 years old. For most of its history, it has had as its symbol a red apple with a white cross—the Swiss national flag superimposed on one of its most common fruits. But the group, the oldest and largest fruit farmer’s organization in Switzerland, worries it might have to change its logo, because Apple, the tech giant, is trying to gain intellectual property rights over depictions of appl…

Their logo: https://www.swissfruit.ch/wp-content/themes/dudapress/dist/a...

Boy, that logo really isn't a matter of confusion.

Seeing it, and the Apple computer one in something like a list or logo cloud, would not raise questions.

Re: Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

#84

Post by tough »

colejohnson66 wrote: post #54
jagged-chisel wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trademarks are limited to the trades (i.e. 'goods& services') listed in the trademark application. Apple, Inc doesn't sell apples. Nor do they have apple farms. Visit USPTO's TESS and search for serial number 87628828. The "Goods and Services" field contains no mention of fruit, farms, or produce. You must diligently protect your trademark against uses by others in similar markets. I would hope that protecting your c…

That is true. That argument also got Apple Records off Apple's back in the old days; they weren't in the music business (until they did with iTunes and were sued again). I think the lawyers are being too ambitious with this lawsuit, and will lose, but my comment was just clarifying why lawyers would bring such a case.

Lawyers get paid regardless of the outcome.

Is on their best interest to bring as many frivolous loosing lawsuits as Apple is willing to pay for.

Re: Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

#85

Post by myshpa »

ginko wrote: post #39
Varqu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There should be a penalty for such bogus trademark claims, best as % of the global revenue. Then, maybe, they would learn that a corporation cannot bully others only because it has unlimited legal resources.

Nah, just void their trademark.

Nah, just abolish patents and trademarks.

Re: Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

#86

Post by mcpackieh »

ginko wrote: post #39
Varqu wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There should be a penalty for such bogus trademark claims, best as % of the global revenue. Then, maybe, they would learn that a corporation cannot bully others only because it has unlimited legal resources.

Nah, just void their trademark.

Void all trademarks that are unmodified common nouns. If a company wants exclusive rights to a word they should have to invent their own word or at least find a novel way to spell an old word.

Re: Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

#87

Post by driscoll42 »

pdntspa wrote: post #32
sashank_1509 wrote: post #8

The kind of ridiculous situation that arises when a company is drowning in money with no idea what to do about it. Make work for lawyers, Make work for engineers, share buybacks, no good vision on how to spend the money

Funny how 'give more of it to employees' and 'lower prices' aren't really in the vocabulary

I'm in Business School and took a class in Finance. In a lecture the professor presented what to do if a company has too much cash, the options where:

1. Invest in positive NPV projects 2. Store some for a rainy day 3/4. Pay divdends or stock buybacks

Only after did I think "You know, what about lowering prices or paying employees, these options are soley about shareholders". But... yes, managers are taught to think about increasing shareholder wealth above all.

Re: Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

#88

Post by jeroenhd »

kossTKR wrote: post #79

I hope Apple loses the rights to use anything related to apples in the EU for wasting taxpayers money and time. They can fuck off just as all other large companies that tries to turn the world into a corporatocracy. EU's relatively large fines to the US tech sector has been a breath of fresh air, lets do more of that on a global basis.

I hope so too, but Switzerland isn't in the EU so I doubt the EU will take action unless the Swiss government invokes one of the many treaties and trade deals in response to this.

Re: Apple wants rights to the image of apples in Switzerland

#89

Post by fredoralive »

jeroen wrote: post #47
Retric wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As always, the sound bites obscure the issue. The concern is not the specific request, but how widely trademark is enforceable, which is a question of IP law not Apple’s actions. Apple applied for a design patent for a very specific design and ignorant people flipped out completely misunderstanding the issue. Yet again there’s another story where the details matter and you get articles like this completely glossing o…

> Apple applied for a design patent for a very specific design https://www3.wipo.int/madrid/monitor/jsp/data.jsp?KEY=ROM_AC... doesn't look like a very specific design to me, but like a pretty generic apple. > as it applies to electronic devices and a few other narrow categories This is neither a few nor narrow, imho: Musical sound recordings; sound recordings featuring entertainment, music, musicians, documentaries,…

It's the logo for Apple Corps / Apple Records, the Beatles' company (whose trademarks are now owned by Apple Inc and licensed back to them).

The uses mostly match up with the areas of business a record and film company like Apple Corps would trade in?

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