Apple has filed a notice of opposition against a meal prep company because it claims the Prepear app’s cartoon fruit logo— in this case, a pear— is too close to Apple’s own trademarked logo which is, of course, an apple (via MacRumors and iPhone in Canada). The company claims the pear logo would “cause dilution of the distinctiveness” of the Apple logo, and make it difficult for consumers to distinguish between Prepear and Apple’s goods and services, which it argues is a violation of the Lanham Act.
Apple supplied the following preliminary statement:
We seek to protect our trademarks and protect consumers from unauthorized uses of our marks. That has been and will continue to be our business strategy. First, Apple chose to use its own distinctive, fact-based "Apple" mark, extending what may be the first use of this trademark by a U.S. company in 13 years of history. Second, Apple chose a promotion within the underlying AppleCare program that leverages Apple's trademarks with other leading companies. This marks the same kind of promotion used in no less than 13 other business-to-business programs and other marketing channels used by Apple. Neither Apple's trademark registrations nor goodwill rights with respect to the use and appearance of the company's trademarks have been challenged. A fair comparison of plaintiff's action against AppleCare with plaintiff's use of the Company Apple logo in promotional initiatives directly mirrors the outcome in those other 21 cases that have been overturned by the courts.
Apple is also asking the court to rule that the defendant takes advantage of Apple's trademarks in four other ways:
Mr. DiEugenio's innovative use of the Apple Apple App Store logo against which Plaintiff argues Internet users are becoming accustomed;
Note the use of the Apple App Store logo both in Prepear app INManual: Installation and Prepear.app INManual: Use of the App Store; and
Declining to hold Prepear defendants liable under New York law, despite admitting to the "wanton or wanton" injury intended by plaintiff's online advertising.
The company then resorted to another argument that Prepear should be beyond the reach of the Lanham Act, because much of its intended advertising is worthless.
Apple has released a notice of opposition that was signed by "General Counsel" Debra Safdie, but name matches conduct between Apple and Steve Jobs. Behind the scenes, however, at least one other lawyer at Apple in New York City is handling Prepear legal matters in his own person.
First introduced in 2012 as Apple Care for iPad, Prepear was the first Apple app focused on meal prep based on its culinary skills. The app claims to have processed 1 million meals. Apple was called upon to comment on Prepear's launch under the auspices of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who was looking into the deceptive practices of meal location and preparation apps as they spread via the Internet. The company ended up filing a petition with the court—questioning
Apple supplied the following preliminary statement:
We seek to protect our trademarks and protect consumers from unauthorized uses of our marks. That has been and will continue to be our business strategy. First, Apple chose to use its own distinctive, fact-based "Apple" mark, extending what may be the first use of this trademark by a U.S. company in 13 years of history. Second, Apple chose a promotion within the underlying AppleCare program that leverages Apple's trademarks with other leading companies. This marks the same kind of promotion used in no less than 13 other business-to-business programs and other marketing channels used by Apple. Neither Apple's trademark registrations nor goodwill rights with respect to the use and appearance of the company's trademarks have been challenged. A fair comparison of plaintiff's action against AppleCare with plaintiff's use of the Company Apple logo in promotional initiatives directly mirrors the outcome in those other 21 cases that have been overturned by the courts.
Apple is also asking the court to rule that the defendant takes advantage of Apple's trademarks in four other ways:
Mr. DiEugenio's innovative use of the Apple Apple App Store logo against which Plaintiff argues Internet users are becoming accustomed;
Note the use of the Apple App Store logo both in Prepear app INManual: Installation and Prepear.app INManual: Use of the App Store; and
Declining to hold Prepear defendants liable under New York law, despite admitting to the "wanton or wanton" injury intended by plaintiff's online advertising.
The company then resorted to another argument that Prepear should be beyond the reach of the Lanham Act, because much of its intended advertising is worthless.
Apple has released a notice of opposition that was signed by "General Counsel" Debra Safdie, but name matches conduct between Apple and Steve Jobs. Behind the scenes, however, at least one other lawyer at Apple in New York City is handling Prepear legal matters in his own person.
First introduced in 2012 as Apple Care for iPad, Prepear was the first Apple app focused on meal prep based on its culinary skills. The app claims to have processed 1 million meals. Apple was called upon to comment on Prepear's launch under the auspices of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who was looking into the deceptive practices of meal location and preparation apps as they spread via the Internet. The company ended up filing a petition with the court—questioning
g
