“Randolph Divisions Inc. (‘RDI’ of Hawaii) and HEARPOD Inc. (‘HI’ of Nevada) have filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Apple that includes Unfair Competition and Dilution. The Plaintiffs claim that Apple’s ‘EarPods’ brand name has harmed their company’s trademark,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple. “Randolph Divisions Trademark for ‘Hear Pod’ was filed in 2005 and certified in November 2007. The actual application listed the trademark as two distinct words ‘Hear’ and ‘Pod.'”
“HEARPOD Inc.’s specimen to the US Patent and Trademark Office is clearly for hearing aids and not a music headset. Someone wanting a hearing aid wouldn’t be looking for a music headset and vice versa,” Purcher writes. “The trademark infringement case presented in today’s report was filed in the Honolulu District Court. The Presiding Judge in this case is noted as being Judge Leslie Kobayashi.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Frivolous.