

Apple challenges new Woolworths logo - xelfer
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/04/apple_challenges_new_woolworths_logo.html

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jballanc
Before everyone jumps on the Apple-hate bandwagon, keep in mind that unlike
copyright, which is implicitly granted upon authorship, and patent rights,
which are guaranteed upon successful filing, holding a trademark demands a
vigorous defense. If Apple were not to lodge complaints like this (and the one
against PlaNYC), then they run the risk of becoming the next Xerox or Kleenex.

In other words, the goal here is not necessarily to get Woolworths to change
their logo, but rather to get it on the record that they were defending their
brand.

(see for more:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark#Maintaining_trademark...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark#Maintaining_trademark_rights))

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cunninglinguist
Apple: some of the whiniest bitches on the planet. "No, you can't use our
trademarked glossy chat bubbles in your $5 iPhone app! We own rounded
rectangles with gradients! The ratio of people to cake is enormous!!"

Seriously, as a longtime user of trendy/overpriced Apple products, these
stories piss me off and "erode confidence" in Apple as an honest and
aboveboard company. The more successful they become, the less I like how they
comport themself in the marketplace. Nothing wrong with defending your
legitimate trademarks, but this sort of shot across the bow really makes Apple
seem, on the whole, like a gaggle of paranoid hubristic geek bitchmongers.

~~~
scottjackson
As much as I agree with you that this probably isn't much of an infringement,
I do know that the job of the legal department at companies like Apple is to
jump on _every single_ instance of a trademark that might even remotely
infringe on Apple's own trademarks. As far as I'm aware, sometimes Apple (or
[insert big company name here]) may not even think it's very much of an
infringement -- they may just make the application to cover their asses. If
they _didn't_ pursue every potential trademark infringement, they could find
themselves in a world of pain ten years down the road.

I think it's important to make a distinction between Apple, the company that
ships those shiny insanely great products, and Apple's legal department, the
people whose sole purpose is to protect, above all else (even at the price of
looking like d'bags), Apple's ownership of Apple's stuff.

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TomOfTTB
This example is too new to determine one way or the other. But the example
cited by cunninglinguist above (regarding the chat bubbles) was one that went
way beyond the legal department. Chess Wars was rejected by iPhone app
approval ([http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2009/09/01/chess-wars-app-
up...](http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2009/09/01/chess-wars-app-update-
rejected-over-shiny-chat-bubbles/))

Moreover Apple has a history of aggressively pursuing anything that remotely
violates their trademarks.

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tdm911
Until I read this I had never even realised that the Woolworths logo was in
the shape of an apple, and they are my local supermarket.

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nopassrecover
Yeah I think of that as a cabbage or pumpkin something (which is kind of weird
but meh). Certainly not an apple.

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whatusername
To speak in Apple's defence here: I'm not sure this is 100% overreaching.
Woolworths (and Coles) are producing a whole lot of branded in-house products.

That now includes Mobile Phone SIM cards. (Not handsets that I'm aware of -
YET)

It might also include stuff like blank CD's, MP3 Players, and whatever other
stuff they have down the stationary aisle. (I'll check tonight and reply
later) Certainly that logo would look suspicious on a MP3 player. (And also
certainly - apple have no complain against a home-brand muesli)

Apple might have learnt from their past - think Apple Records and the fact
that "Apple computer" weren't in the same business as them..

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scottjackson
Pretty sure they offer mobile phone handsets, though I'm not sure how they're
branded.

How I know this: I heard an in-store advertisement last week at Woolworths for
a mobile phone (a Nokia, I believe). It boasted "polyphonic ringtones." I
laughed.

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protomyth
Many wish for copyright reform, but I sometimes think trademark reform (taking
out the vigorously defend clause) might be needed more.

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TomOfTTB
I await the day when Apple sues Christianity, Islam, Judaism et al. for
featuring an Apple with a bite out of it in their origin story which is in
clear violation of Apple's established trademarks.

~~~
nirmal
I believe that would be covered as "prior art".

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aurora72
As an Apple user, I'm horrified.

The way they question the Woolworths logo looks sort of like a huge monster
trying to crush a small fly with their iron-covered feet.

This has got certainly nothing to do with defending a trademark logo, but more
to do with extreme intolerance and total isolation from the world.

