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I don't know much about trademark but I know of this company called Apple. Would Apple be blocked from trademarking it's name if it sold actual Apples instead o
by vasco 5y ago
I don't know much about trademark but I know of this company called Apple. Would Apple be blocked from trademarking it's name if it sold actual Apples instead of computers?
- Taniwha 5y agoApple spent years in court arguing with Apple music
- aranchelk 5y agoThis is true, but the situation was Apple (the computer company) moved into the music business with iTunes; Apple (the record company) was already long established. Apple (the record company) was the plaintiff trying to block Apple (the computer company). My (limited) knowledge is solely of US law, but different companies with the same trademark can coexist in different industries, e.g. Delta (the airline) and Delta (the faucet company).
- garmaine 5y agoIt happened twice actually. Apple (the record company) sued Apple (the computer company) back in the 80's. The judgement then was that the computer company could keep using their name so long as they never enter the music business. Then they released iPod & iTunes, and got sued again for breach of their court-mediated agreement. The record company won a settlement IIRC.
- timpattinson 5y agoand Delta, the power supply company
- philwelch 5y agoAnd Delta Dental, the dental insurance provider.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- contravariant 5y agoPresumably against Apple Records?
- aranchelk 5y ago> Would Apple be blocked from trademarking it's name if it sold actual Apples instead of computers? Yes. In the US, if Apple sold apples, its name would be classified as descriptive and they would not have any exclusive right to that mark when selling apples. Other companies could also label their apples with "apple" and Apple could not stop them.
- blowski 5y agoGood question, I'm always confused about trademark and copyright laws.
- andylynch 5y agoThis is also why kiwifruit are marketed as Zespri etc.