Apple loses ‘i’ product trademark case
Expect to see a lot more tech products with ‘i’ in the name, either as a prefix or a suffix, as Apple has lost a trademarks tribunal in which it was trying to stop an Australian firm from using the name DOPi to sell cases and bags for laptops and other Apple products. iFail.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Apple failed in its bid to prevent Wholesale Central from trademarking the DOPi name, arguing that it was too close to the iPod name (DOPi is iPod backwards, with some extra capital letters thrown in for good measure).
IP Australia countered by stating that there were already a number of products with an ‘i’ prefix or suffix and that it was doubtful whether people would really assume the two names were linked.
While this doesn’t mean any company will now get away with a similar name to an existing Apple product, it does suggest there is a good chance of doing so, assuming a product isn’t called iPode or something similarly obvious.
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