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Cobalt Networks Could Sue Apple Over Cube Design
mcwop writes "\
Looks like Cobalt Networks is suing Apple over their cube, according to ZDNet UK This is interesting because Cobalt Networks settled a lawsuit over their cube with Cube Computer Corp back in January. While they are both cubes one is specifically a server though the other could be used/marketed as one in the future. Technology and lawsuits seem to go hand in hand these days.
" Basically, Cobalt has alleged that Apple has infringed on their trademarks. Oh, BTW, I've patented the shape "block". I'm going to be suing for past due royalties from humanity. My ownership of the block means that unlicensed use - like buildings are money to be made! Why didn't I think of this earlier?!
I really hope Cobalt doesn't win (actually, I hope it doesn't even get to trial), but I'm glad they're filing the suit. If only to demonstrate to Apple how stupid the idea is.
Do you see DaimlerChrysler suing Ford for stealing styling ideas on pickup trucks? Or Kenworth, International, et. al. suing DaimlerChrysler for borrowing styling from big rig trucks? Actually, the auto industry in general - there's a LOT of "stealing" of features and styling cues. But no one suing. Because that industry has matured past that point.
I think that's what's causing all these lawsuits - the immaturity (I don't mean "childish") of this new consumer industry. It will pass once it's demonstrated how foolish these lawsuits really are.
Methinks Hemos got a little carried away when he went off on his patent tirade. He says it himslef just prior to this, that it is about trademarks. Not patents. And now we're back to the retarded "I'm gonna patent X, and you'll all owe me money" crap. Trademarks go by different rules and Cobalt is claiming here that Apple's Cube will cause confusion with people getting the Cobalt Qube and Apple's Cube mixed up. Read first please!
Well now it's clear, they don't look alike at all: the Mac cube resembles a washing machine, while the Cobalt Qube may pass for a table top refrigerator. Case closed.
Well, Rubik can sue Cobalt. Go ahead Cobalt. Your move.
-- You see, there would be these conclusions that you could jump to
Also... cobalt will realize, after looking at it, that a 'server without monitor or keyboard' is not new, that 'the cube shape' is not new, and that the color really has very little to do with purchasing of servers.
Back off cobalt.. sell your products based on their actual functions...
The issue in a trademark case boils down to whether there is a likelihood of confusion between Apple's cube and Cobalt's cube. This further boils down to whether a member of the purchasing public, when seeing a computer in a cube, thinks, "Ah! Cobalt!" I don't known if the purchasing public thinks that or not. That will be established by surveys, etc. used at trial. This case seems a little weak, given that 95% of tech people upon seeing a cube think NExT or Borg, but it's not frivolous.
Uh, yeah. Ever see a NeXT cube?
Amazingly, it's square design predated the Cobalt Qube by several years.
Apple bought NeXT. They "own" that design.
Beyond that we have the iMac case.
G4 Cubes are not marketed nor targeted at customers who are buying Colbalt Qubes. Nor, aside from the shape (which they didn't "innovate," to use Microsoft-speak), does it even look REMOTELY like the Qube.
Therefore a "regular person" is extremely unlikely to confuse the two.
Therefore Colbalt is simply wasting money, as they have no chance of lost sales, which is what both the iMac and Colbalt lawsuits are about.
Moof!
There was a demo program that ran on it. It was the one with the bumblebee.
Did anybody out there see this cube?
If apple can sue E-machines over the iMac design, then why can't Cobalt sue over a cube design?
Seriously, though, this is even more silly than the E-machines/iMac lawsuit. I think I'll go form Teal Computer Corp, patent the color teal, then sue a few office chair manufacturers.
And didn't the NeXT cube pre-date Cobalt by a few years? And Apple bought out NeXT. So maybe Apple should try a counter-suit for Cobalt stealing THEIR design!
--
"Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
"Open source is evil." - Microsoft
(IANAL)
The iMac suits seemed to depend on whether or not the consumer might confuse the two products. That is, the eOne did look an awful lot like the iMac, and mistaken identity alone could take away from Apple's sales.
As for the Cube, I think you'd need to be both blind and stupid to mistake the two. The colors are totally different, the Cube is considerably taller, the Qube indicator light is in no way reproduced, the only resemblance is the basic shape (which is a common shape, unlike the iMac) and size. I don't think you could confuse these two...
Apple might also be able to argue the Cube is a derivative of the NeXT Cube which Apple should still hold the rights to. The only difference there is the size...
We must boycott Slashdot until they cease their abuse of the U.S. Patent Office and drop their suit against the author of DeBlockS. In the mean time, let's forget overrated corporate architects like Frank Lloyd Wright and support independent architects instead; you can find their building plans on popular blueprint-sharing services like Bluetella and Planster.
Down with architecture patents! Free the block!
They aren't targeted at the same group of people.
They aren't the same size.
Their aesthetic is different.
"Qube" is not the same word as "Cube".
Honestly, this is *pathetic* on the part of Cobalt. I hope they lose and lose badly.
(Incidentally, I hate Apple Computer. But this is just insane.)
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
As legal counsel for the Pythagoras estate, I am obliged to advise all of the Slashdotters participating in this discussion that the use of the word Cube(tm) is a violation of Pythagorean intellectual property rights, along with the the use of Tetrahedron(tm), Octahedron(tm), Dodecahedron(tm), and Icosahedron(tm), all of which are inseparable components of the Platonic Solids(tm) suite. Moreover, the use of two- or three-dimensional derivatives of our intellectual property (commonly known as "square", "rectangle", and the general class of "rectilinear solids") without payment of royalties is an actionable offense.
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