

Apple has trademarked a Unicode codepoint - qzc4

https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.apple.com&#x2F;legal&#x2F;intellectual-property&#x2F;guidelinesfor3rdparties.html<p>Use of the “keyboard”; Apple Logo (Option-Shift-K) for commercial purposes without the prior written consent of Apple may constitute trademark infringement and unfair competition in violation of federal and state laws. Use of Apple trademarks may be prohibited, unless expressly authorized.
======
dalke
According to [http://hea-
www.harvard.edu/~fine/OSX/unicode_apple_logo.html](http://hea-
www.harvard.edu/~fine/OSX/unicode_apple_logo.html) it's in a private use area.

> This is probably fine for Mac-only applications. But it is NOT appropriate,
> and even WRONG, and it will NOT work properly as a general web page
> character. The problem is that the unicode value used is one of several that
> is set aside for private use. That means that each operating system, or
> application, or implementation is free to use those unicode characters for
> anything they want. It just so happens that Apple has chosen to use unicode
> character U+F8FF (decimal value 63743, or on the web as either &#xF8FF; or
> &#63743;) as the Apple Logo.

The definition seems to be from
[http://www.unicode.org/Public/MAPPINGS/VENDORS/APPLE/CORPCHA...](http://www.unicode.org/Public/MAPPINGS/VENDORS/APPLE/CORPCHAR.TXT)

    
    
        # The following (1) is for the Mac OS Roman encoding
        # (also used in Symbol & Croatian).
        # NOTE: The graphic image associated with the Apple logo 
        character is
        # not authorized for use without permission of Apple, and unauthorized
        # use might constitute trademark infringement.
        0xF8FF	# Apple logo # Roman-0xF0, Symbol-0xF0, Croatian-0xD8
    

and quoting from [http://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/Archives-
Old/UML...](http://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/Archives-
Old/UML014/0171.html) :

> In the very early days of Unicode development, the Apple logo was used as an
> example of a character from an existing (i.e., Macintosh) character set that
> would have to be mapped to a private-use value.

> Apple Computer has published its recommendation. The issue is closed unless
> Apple Computer (owner of the trademark) chooses to bring it up.

~~~
qzc4
Yes, I remember reading that at some point, but what I found interesting is
that they seem to be trademarking not the _glyph_ , but the _codepoint_ , so
these fonts:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Use_Areas#U.2BF8FF_usag...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Use_Areas#U.2BF8FF_usage_examples)
are breaking the law. Or rather, anything with the character in it, like
Codhisattva's comment.

~~~
dalke
How are they breaking the law? That would require use in an infringing way,
and the law has some well defined requirements for what that means.

First, Why do you think that Apple claims a trademark on the codepoint? It's
not something Apple mentioned in the quote I did earlier:

> The graphic image associated with the Apple logo character is not authorized
> for use without permission of Apple, and unauthorized use might constitute
> trademark infringement.

I also did a USPTO trademark search for 'F8FF' and found nothing, so it
doesn't look like the codepoint is trademarked.

Second, even if there were some sort of trademark on F8FF, inclusion of a
symbol in a font isn't in and of itself trademark infringement. The use must
cause a likelihood of customer confusion, otherwise no infringement is
possible.

Take a look at [http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-
Awesome/icons/#brand](http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/icons/#brand)
or
[http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/search/logo?search_api_views...](http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/search/logo?search_api_views_fulltext=microsoft)
and tell me if you think they had to permission from the trademark holders.

Use of a trademark doesn't mean trademark infringement. Codhisattva's comment
is not trademark infringement. There's no misrepresentation or market
confusion. I can say things like "compatible with Micosoft Windows" even
though I don't control that trademark or have permission from Microsoft.

Not only that, but in the US Codhisattva's comment is covered by free speech.
I can sell a button that says "No !" as a form of protest or political
commentary even if selling a T-shirt which says "I♥!" is likely infringement
(doubly so if it infringes on NYC's INY style).

~~~
dalke
Err, "I♥NY".

------
Codhisattva
®

