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Trademark

Apple and Cisco: The Start of a Beautiful Friendship?

Authored by Kurt Scherf on February 23, 2007 - 11:36am.
Yesterday's announcement from Apple and Cisco regarding the resolution of the iPhone trademark is really short on specifics. Other than announcing that both companies can jointly use the trademark on their products, the only other public statement was that they would "explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications."
tags: Law | Tech | TV | Apple | IPTV | Cisco | Trademark | iPhone |

The iPhone Controversy and Apple's Big Brand Challenge

Authored by Rohit Bhargava on January 11, 2007 - 10:01am.
Every news media outlet and just about every blog in the universe is buzzing about Apple's big iPhone announcement Monday at MacWorld.  It has been a busy few days of announcements with CES, MacWorld and the Detroit Auto Show all happening this week and fighting for the headlines.  As it turns out, the real headline grabber has been the rising battle between Cisco and Apple over the rights to the trademark iPhone name.

Despite it's perfect consistency with the rest of Apple's product line, it turns out the branded trademark "iPhone" actually belonged to Cisco since 2000, and they are also promoting a smart portfolio of products bearing the same name that quietly focus on reinventing the home telephone to include some of the features available in mobile phones.  In a blog post about Apple's move of announcing their own iPhone, Cisco offers a thoughtful response painting Apple as the spoiled child who tried to get the name they wanted, couldn't reach an agreement in time, and decided to move ahead with announcing the name anyway.
tags: Mobile | Marketing | Law | Lawsuits | Music | Apple | CE | Brands | Cisco | Trademark | iPhone |

Cisco Sues Apple Over Use of iPhone Name

Authored by Jay Baage on January 10, 2007 - 2:39pm.
San Francisco - Cisco Systems, with Chief Executive John Chambers, sued Apple Inc. in federal court on Wednesday, claiming that Cisco owns the iPhone trademark. Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled the long awaited Apple iPhone at the MacWorld trade show in San Francisco on Tuesday, but Cisco claims that Apple does not have the right to use the name 'iPhone'.
tags: Mobile | Law | Lawsuits | Tech | Apple | CE | Copyright | Cisco | Cellphones | Trademark | iPhone |

Konami Settles Trademark Suit, Acquires Rival Dance Game from Roxor

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 26, 2006 - 12:26pm.
Tokyo - Japanese video game publisher Konami has settled a lawsuit it filed against fellow developer Roxor, over that company's alleged trademark infringement of Konami's "Dance Dance Revolution" game with its own "In the Groove" dance game, GamesIndustry.biz reported. Under terms of the settlement, Konami has acquired the intellectual property rights to "In the Groove," while Roxor has pledged to respect Konami's intellectual property rights in the future.
tags: Games | Deals | Law | Lawsuits | Acquisitions | Games Deals | Konami | IP | Trademark | Roxor |

Apple Seeks Trademark Relief from Makers of "Pod" Products

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 15, 2006 - 12:35pm.
San Francisco - Seeking to crack down on copycats utilizing its trademarks, Apple has sent cease-and-desist letters to a number of companies it says make unfair use of the word "pod" in their product names, CNET News.com reported.
tags: Law | Tech | Music | iPod | Apple | CE | Trademark |

French Court: Google Breached Louis Vuitton Trademark Rights

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 7, 2005 - 3:12am.
Paris -- The Parisian District Court has ruled that U.S.-based search engine firm Google's practice of selling brand-name triggered advertising infringed on the trademark of Louis Vuitton. Google makes around 98% of its money by selling so-called "keyword-linked" advertising. Charged with trademark counterfeiting, unfair competition and misleading advertising, Google must now pay the French luxury goods firm $250,000, the court said. Google must also stop displaying ads for Vuitton's competitors whenever Internet users type the company's name into the search engine. Google said it was still considering whether or not to appeal the ruling. "We're studying the ruling," said Google spokesperson Myriam Boublil. "No decision's been taken yet on an appeal." Only a month ago, Google lost a similar case with Le Meridian Hotels, in which the search engine firm was fined $2,550 and ordered to pay costs.
tags: Law | Google | French | Louis Vuitton | Trademark |

Lindows Settles Microsoft Trademark Suit, Sets IPO Terms

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 20, 2004 - 5:02am.
Redmond, Wash. -- Lindows, the Linux-based operating system software firm headed by MP3.com founder Michael Robertson, announced that it has settled trademark infringement charges brought by Microsoft, developer of the Windows operating system. Under the terms, Microsoft, which sued Lindows for trademark infringement in late 2001, will pay Lindows $20 million to stop using the name "Lindows" in favor of "Linspire." "Over the next few months Lindows will cease using the term Lindows and transition to Linspire globally as our company name and primary identifier for our operating system product," said Lindows CEO Michael Robertson. Lindows also announced that it has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares, expecting to raise up to $48.4 million and see an initial market capitalization of around $206 million.
tags: Microsoft | Trademark | Lindows | IPO Terms |

Google Hit With Trademark Action by Online Toy Retailer

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 7, 2004 - 6:55am.
Mountain View, Calif. -- Claiming that it has superior rights to the similar-sounding name, Googles, a children's web site based in Maryland, said on Wednesday that it has launched trademark proceedings against search engine giant Google. In two separate actions, Googles, which is operated by Stelor Productions, has filed a notice opposing the California Internet company's application for a "Google" trademark to cover a list of goods and services that includes children's books, stickers and children's clothing, and also is seeking to cancel an existing registration for the mark "Google" for e-mail and search engine services. Steven Esrig, the CEO of Stelor Productions, said that Google has caused increasing harm to his children's business, which has developed story lines around its "Googles from Goo" alien characters. The company recently released several Googles-themed children's songs on iTunes, and has future plans to expand into television. "The web is a big enough space for both of us, but not if Google trespasses on our domain for children," said Esrig. "Even though Google Inc. is bigger, better capitalized, and more widely known, the company can't continue to pretend we don't exist." Esrig said that the publicity surrounding the Google IPO and that company's move into children's goods and services has deterred investors, licensees and entertainment partners from completing their deals with his company.
tags: Internet | Google | Trademark | Toy Retailer |

Netscape Settles Trademark Suit with Playboy Over Search Keywords

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 26, 2004 - 2:36am.
Dulles, Va. -- Netscape, the browser developer owned by America Online, has settled a trademark infringement suit with publisher Playboy over its sales of keyword advertising spots using Playboy-trademarked terms like "playmate" and "playboy," CNET News.com reported. The settlement, terms of which were not disclosed, follows an appeals court ruling last week that said Playboy could go ahead with its case against Netscape. The appeal followed a lower court's ruling that Netscape and partner Excite made "fair use" of Playboy's trademarks when it sold banner ads to adult sites that came up when users entered search terms like "playboy."
tags: Playboy | Netscape | Trademark | Search Keywords |

French Court Fines Google for Trademark Violation

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 20, 2003 - 3:51am.
Paris -- A French court ruled this week that Google France must pay a 70,000-euro ($81,000) fine after it permitted advertisers to link their text notices with trademarked search names. Two French travel agencies -- Luteciel and Viaticum -- sued Google last December after the company refused to stop the use of the words "bourse des vols" and "bourse des voyages," which translate as "travel market" and "air-flight market," respectively, and for which the agencies had claimed intellectual property rights. Google declined to comment on the case, saying only that it would appeal the decision.
tags: Law | Google | French | Trademark | Violation |

Sony Drops "Shock and Awe" Trademark Application; Called "Inappropriate"

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 16, 2003 - 2:00am.
Tokyo -- Sony Computer Entertainment announced that it has withdrawn its controversial trademark application for the catchphrase "Shock and Awe," which it intended to use for a video game, Reuters reported. Sony submitted its application on March 21, one day after the war in Iraq began and the term was used by the U.S. military to describe the coalition bombing campaign on the country. Sony told Reuters that while it never had specific plans to use the phrase for the title of a video game, it was withdrawn because the company now "felt the action was inappropriate." Several other game firms, including U.K.-based game developer SCi Games have been criticized for actions that could be interpreted as attempting to profit from the war.
tags: Sony | Trademark | Shock and Awe | Inappropriate |