“Apple has laid legal claim to the word ‘Pod,’ arguing that other companies that use the word as part of their product names risk infringing the trademark of its popular iPod music player,” Richard Waters reports for The Financial Times.
Waters reports, “The legal campaign, which in recent days has drawn challenges to products with names such as Profit Pod and TightPod, reflects a broader attempt by some of the most successful consumer technology companies to prevent their best-known product names slipping into common useage beyond their control.”
“Dave Ellison, whose company, Mach5Products, makes the Profit Pod, said he had been sent a “cease and desist” request by Apple’s lawyers last week, just after receiving trademark recognition for his product name in the US,” Waters reports. “The success of the iPod has led to widespread adoption of the word “Pod” in relation, for instance in the term podcasting. Companies that have made use of the word in their product or corporate names range from DoPod, a Chinese maker of personal digital assistance, to PodShow, a company that distributes podcasts.”
Full article here.
“This week, the Apple legal team has caused a bit of a stir by trying to claim the word “pod”. Even if your product is nothing like the iPod in the way it looks, feels or even smells, it appears that you can still face a lawsuit from Apple if your trademark contains the word Pod in it. This is exactly what happened to a small family business when they invented a digital device to aid in their business of making arcade game machines,” QJ.NET reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Schlaeps” for the heads up.]
We’re unsure of the legal precedent here, but it seems like a stretch by Apple if the products are totally unrelated to iPod and used in completely different industries.
This is not a case of someone else using Apple’s trademark “iPod.”
Zens and Sansas being referred to as “iPods” by the public is the same as the public referring to generic facial tissue as “Kleenex.” This is commonly referred to as “genericized trademarks.” Yes, Apple needs to EDUCATE the consumers to not do this or they’ll be the next “escalator.”
It is not the same as someone using an unprotected and common English word, “pod”, as part of their product name without intent to capitalize on or compete in Apple’s market.
Mach5Products did not refer to their product as a “pPod” or an “iPod for arcade games.” Nor is their product sold in the consumer marketplace. It’s a data collection tool for amusement (arcade) game consoles.
Merriam Webster defines a “pod” as “…a compartment (as for personnel, a power unit, or an instrument)…”
Hmm. Sounds suspiciously like the exact function the “Profit Pod” has.
Mach5Products are NOT capitalizing on an existing market so much as capitalizing on the English language.
Interestingly, no where else can I find reference to a “pod” as a personal music playing device — and that includes Apple’s own dictionary as provided by Oxford American Dictionaries.
Sure Apple can sue. But they’ll lose. And they may even set a precedent they don’t care to set on the use of the word “pod” in electronic products of all sorts.
Apple should not over react, in the Netherlands a magazin called iPodfan has been forbidden by Apple international … !
A very Sony move by Apple legal. They should use their resources to stop Reuters, CNN, and the alphabet channels from using iPod every time they do a story that references a mp3 player.
Nice site G-Zus, didn’t know god was on dotnet.
Could you do me a favor? I’ve got this glass of water and could just do with some wine. You don’t mind do you?
Neil: Anything for a pal.
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I prefer the Snapple iPud.
Attention: all peas shall now be enclosed in pea casings.
Carry on.
This is ridiculous. Anyone still think Apple’s still some kind of white knight vs. Microsoft’s evil empire.
Great design aside, Apple is no different than MS.
The word Pod belonged to everyone long before Apple existed.
“Apple legal claims the word ‘Pod’”
I’m claiming dingle and nipple. I have my reasons.
I rented a Pod to move. It’s a container that they deliver to your old house, you load it, then they move it to your new house, then you unload it, then they take it away. They can also store them for a month or two if need be. Pods are great. And they have been around about as long as iPods.
Seems like they should be able to keep their name since they used it before Apple (spelled “pod”). And their business in no way infringes on Apple’s.
I can understand complaining about using the name Pod in a PDA. That IS just an attempt to latch onto the iPod recognition.
Then again, there is the name “Apple”
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“Imagine” that.
Now you will have to buy pea tubes.
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