Share the news on March 12 with wechat scanning QR code < / P > < p > to friends and circles of friends < / P > < p > for apple, Apple's trademark and logo have become its eternal symbol. Therefore, it is very sensitive for others to register fruit related trademarks or logos. According to the latest data, Apple has filed 215 trademark objection applications in the past three years, more than the sum of four technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook < p > 215 trademark objections filed in three years < / P > < p > in 2019, Genevieve St. John, a human resources expert in Chandler, Arizona, opened his own blog and used the neon green and pink apple as the trademark. However, shortly after applying for registration with the U.S. patent and Trademark Office, St. John received notice that her request was opposed by apple. In a 246 page objection to the trademark application, Apple's lawyer wrote that St. John's logo "may tarnish Apple's reputation, and apple strives not to associate itself with pornographic content" < p > St. John, now 41, felt very depressed. Having no money to hire a lawyer to fight apple in court, she decided not to respond to Apple's lawsuit, paving the way for the court to make a ruling in favor of the electronics giant. "I didn't even make money from it. But it's apple and I won't argue with them because I don't have $1 million," St. John said of the stopped blog project < p > St. John is one of dozens of entrepreneurs, small businesses and companies tracked down by apple in recent years because they mentioned the word "apple" in their trademark application or related to the logo of the fruit. According to the data of the non-profit supervision organization "science and technology transparency project", apple submitted 215 trademark objection applications from 2019 to 2021 to defend its company logo, name or product name. The group said that this figure exceeded the total number of trademark objection applications filed by Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Google in the same period (136 cases) < p > Apple is a more common word than the names of companies such as Microsoft or Google, which may also be one of the reasons why Apple filed more trademark objection applications. Many imitators try to make money by imitating Apple's name or logo in the technology and entertainment industries. But Apple often targets those entities that have nothing to do with technology or are small-scale, and even focuses on signs involving other fruits, such as oranges, pears and pineapples < p > Apple's targets include the Indian food blog, the US Department of energy, public school districts in Wisconsin, and Mattel, which develops the popular card game "apples to apples". Apple also opposes the use of the orange logo by a pickup start-up called citrus. Last year, apple reached a settlement with a catering app called prepear. The app developer agreed to change the leaf of its pear logo to make it look less like Apple's logo < p > alleged bullying < / P > < p > Christine Farley, a professor at the Washington School of law at American University, said that Apple's actions against the trademark registration application are equivalent to implementing "bullying tactics", which are not necessary for apple. Citrus, the U.S. Department of energy, prepear parent super health kids and the patent and trademark office declined to comment. Mattel did not respond to requests for comment < p > Apple spokesman Josh Rosenstock said that the law stipulates that if there are concerns about a new trademark application, the company must protect its brand by filing an objection to the patent and Trademark Office. He added: "when we see that some trademarks are too widely used or may confuse our customers, we always act quickly and try to solve these problems quickly and friendly. Legal action is always our last resort." < p > Apple has filed trademark objection applications against many entities that have obtained trademark or logo approval from the patent and Trademark Office. Among these objections, the company argued that "Apple's trademark is very famous and can be recognized at a glance", while other similar trademarks will weaken Apple's brand value or make "ordinary consumers believe that the applicant is related to apple and get Apple's endorsement" < p > some of these entities said that although they were convinced that their trademark did not infringe Apple's interests, they could not prove that it was irrelevant because they did not have the resources to confront apple before the trademark trial and appeal board. Between 2019 and 2021, 37 entities withdrew their trademark applications, accounting for about 17% of the entities targeted by Apple or its subsidiary beats electronics. Another 127 (59%) entities did not respond to Apple's lawsuit < p > independent singer Stephanie Carlisi said she was shocked when Apple challenged its trademark application for Franki pineapple in 2020. In the document, apple admitted that apple and pineapple are different, but said they "are the names of fruits, so they convey a similar business impression". Documents show that apple is also considering opposing kalisi's logo, a pineapple grenade that is exploding < p > fear of dilution of brand value < / P > < p > historically, apple, founded in 1974, was not so easy to file a lawsuit at first. According to the data of the technology transparency project, before 2000, apple submitted only a few trademark objection applications every year, up from 9 in 1989. At least one of these objections is directed against an electronics retailer, which sells computer parts under the name of "pineapple" < p > in those years, Apple was more often the defendant in trademark infringement cases. In 1978, apple Corp, the holding company founded by the Beatles, sued apple for infringement of its trademark rights, followed by a series of legal battles between the two sides in the following decades. In 2007, the two companies finally agreed to hand over all trademarks related to "apple" to the Silicon Valley company. Since then, Apple has removed the word "computer" from its name and filed dozens of trademark infringement lawsuits every year < p > Barton Beebe, a professor at New York University Law School, said that as apple grows, its legal team is likely to want to prevent the value of the brand from being diluted. He said that in intellectual property theory, the legal argument is not that someone will be confused by two different trademarks, but that granting a new trademark will reduce the value of a household trademark or name < p > Ashley Dobbs, a law professor at the University of Richmond, said that since then ?
2023-03-22 10:04:51