Slashdot Mirror
Apple Sued over Tiger, Injunction Sought
An anonymous reader writes "Online retailer Tiger Direct has reportedly sued Apple over the use of the Tiger name just one day before the Mac maker is scheduled to roll-out its next-generation Mac OS X 10.4 'Tiger' operating system, according to an article at AppleInsider. TigerDirect, which owns trademarks on the names Tiger, TigerDirect and TigerSoftware, has requested an injunction that could prevent Friday's launch of the Tiger OS. Tiger Direct is also seeking damages and legal fees. 'Apple Computer has created and launched a nationwide media blitz led by Steven Jobs, overwhelming the computer world with a sea of Tiger references,' Tiger Direct's attorneys wrote in the lawsuit." While the suit may have some merit, it is odd for them to wait until now to try and halt such a heralded product.
Disney will be joining the battle soon as Tiger is misleading to Tigger.
Rock that crushes, Paper & Scissors that don't matter.
Someone at TigerDirect suddenly realized that Apple would/might sue them over the name tiger and they figured they better sue first.
Samsung took back my unlocked bootloader because Google wants me to rent movies. They're both evil.
While the suit may have some merit, it is odd for them to wait until now to try and halt such a heralded product.
;)
Not when now is the time the threat of an injunction to stop distribution could result in a multi zillion pound pay out
Could such a blatant abuse of the law be perpetrated
Everyone has known it was going to be called Tiger for the last YEAR. Why do they wait until release day to file a lawsuit?
And wait a sec. Are these guys telling me that they have a patent on the word "Tiger"? Somebody better get some lawyers for the local zoo.
next time, liger.
Well, I can't say I'm a huge fan of TigerDirect, as they have fairly high prices, I *have* bought some more esoteric parts from them, as well as before NewEgg.com came out, and I've never been disappointed.
I'm also not a fan of Apple, as I absolutely hate using the 10.3 Macs we have in the lab here in our library.
However, this should be pretty clear-cut. If TigerDirect, a computer-related company, owns the trademark on Tiger, as applied to computer products, and Apple has been using that trademark without permission, then TigerDirect should be granted damages.
Especially since, I doubt them having the trademark on Tiger is a new thing.
I think that's really all that needs to be said.
"We are the Dyslexia of Borg. Your ass will be laminated. Futility is resistant."
Boooo!
Apple could call it "Pussy" or something like and try to sell that with tape over the "T*g*r" labels.
.. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
They should be fine. If I remember correctly, they have at least one lawyer on staff.
Post your conspiracy theories !!!
please excuse my apathy
At the root of the issue appears to internet search results. Tiger Direct contends that Apple's use of the name has adversely affected its ranking amongst the Internet's largest search engines....
So does that mean they plan on taking on some non-profit who appears above them on google, because hey everyone knows I might get confused while searching for "tiger" instead of "tigerdirect" (which shows them ranked first btw). This whole things stinks of a "get rich quick by settlement" scam.
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
tigers don't eat apples? Why not choose a nice herbivoric name for your new OS version, like "cow" or "horse"?
Lion, Bear, Barracuda, Orangutan, Giraffe, Rhinocerous, Bobcat, Mountain Lion, Rattlesnake, and any other unused names of the animal kingdom hertofore unpublicised. Document following, please do not step on my rights. Thank you.
My little site.
They sure took their merry little time filing the lawsuit. Apple only has let the public know about the name for well more than a month. Personally I think TigerDirect can shove it, they've sent enough aol cds with their packages to kill a thousand camels.
Isn't it ironic that I go to post this and there is a banner ad up top for tigerdriect.com?
For and AMD processor too!
just a money grab probably hoping that apple will settle out of court for a few bucks
It's also kinda odd that Apple did not check with the trademarks office on the use of "Tiger".
This is a grab for quick settlement money, no questions about it. Clever and slimey-- Apple can either take their chances fighting it (with a small chance to be hurt big) or pay TigerDirect cash. Blackmail, essentially, and the timing of this suit is proof.
I sincerely hope they'll fight it, not only because I believe the lawsuit is meritless and one should never give into blackmail, but also...
Apple has taken the "we defend our legal rights" stance when they've sued Tiger leakers. Fair enough. If they reverse their stance on that now when up against someone with lawyers, I think that'd be quite hypocritical.
So, sock it to them, Apple.
Too late! The boxes are on the truck!
My feeling is they probably tried to discuss it with Apple in private and failed, which is why they are only launching a suit now. They will have launched negotiations a while ago.
Anyway, why not wait til now? Apple have trademark search bureaux at their fingertips, it's not like they didn't know. And as we know, you *have* to launch suits to protect trademarks, or you lose them.
I heard Sagat is pissed !
Jobs: "OK I need about a million volunteers: 1) Cross out the 'Tiger' on the box 2) Write 'Big Orange Cat with black stripes' "
This just comes across as an obvious attempt at extracting money from Apple, I'm sorry but waiting until the day before release begs believe!
I heard Tiger Woods is pretty pissed too.
Homer no function beer well without.
Maybe their plan was to wait to file the lawsuit so that Apple is under more pressure to settle quickly.
Microsoft has renamed their long delayed Windows release "Windows Forever". Bill Gates was quoted as saying, "If it worked for the Duke Nukem franchise, it'll work for us."
Also, I have no idea what
More attention whoring gone bad. "Tiger" has been bandied around in the press for months now. Could it be that Tiger Direct is simply looking for a quick payout on the eve of Apple's launch? Or some free publicity for where to purchase OS X Tiger?
Perhaps somebody should file a lawsuit on behalf of the entire bengal population.
Reminder: Apple owns 1/255th of the internet.
Children, the word of the day is prior art. Can you say prior art? Good! I thought you could.
How ya like dat?
I don't know who to hate in this one...the retailer with incredibly bad business practices or the crazy Mac zelots...go...BSD?
IANAL, but they're basically arguing trademark infringement, but their chances of proving that the use of Tiger to name an operating system is diluting their mark's use in selling computers on the internet is pretty slim. Their argument that it's hurting them by dropping their ranking in Google is even worse - here's a hint, don't choose a standard english word as the name of your company and expect to sit easily atop the searches for that name. Yahoo, Kazaa, etc will never have that problem.
One guess as to why do it now...and if you answered "free publicity" you win!
One might say that it is silly that a computer reseller could trademark the name "Tiger". Then again, if I started a company called AppleDirect selling cheap PCs, I am sure I would hear from some Apple Inc Lawyers about it.
Great ideas often receive violent opposition from mediocre minds. - Albert Einstein
I just did a google search for the term "tiger." Tiger Direct is #2 while apple is #3. A big claim FTFA is that Apple has altered search results, burying Tiger Direct from their usual spot in the top 3.
This is a quick cash grab, and if it means I don't get my copy of Tiger installed tomorrow evening, I'm going ballistic.
Tiger Direct should be wexpecting a cease and desist letter from the Tiger Electronics division of Hasbro, which has been around forever!
My other sig is extremely clever...
I stopped using TigerDirect years ago after they refused to accept a return on product that they falsely advertised. A dual-processor motherboard that required an extra APIC chip to use the second processor, and despite listing both as in stock when I ordered, the APIC was on back-order for over a month. Since I had not opened the box yet I just went to Fry's and bought a motherboard and called to cancel the APIC and return the useless board. The customer service people were uncooperative and the "manager" I talked to was downright rude.
So, despite having spent thousands of dollars there, they decided that they would rather lose both my personal business and that of the company I work for than accept a return on an unopened $120 board they sold under false pretenses.
Don't fool yourself -- you get what you pay for. TigerDirect is cheap because their service sucks the big one.
It's not odd at all. It was planned that way to maximize the pressure they can put on Apple to license the name without going to court. All the packaging is done, product is ready to ship. What better way? I can only assume Apple's lawyers will point out this fact, and the media blitz, prior when fighting the injunction.
Imran Kahn
... and then they built the supercollider.
Wait until the day before launch and then sick your lawyers on em... man. I just don't have the stomach for this capitalism stuff. It's way too competitive.
This lawsuit will only further "dilute their brand"... wait... perhaps this is just a ploy to plaster tiger direct all over the news and that way reclaim their ranking in the search engines!
I had the same exact experience. It took about a dozen calls for the catalogs to stop coming. Sometimes they would send 3 per week!
You'd think someone would have pointed out to Tiger that this has been tried before and didn't end with happy results for the complainant...
... OS X 10.5 'DAK'.
Maybe they should license 'DAK' so they can give a boost to Tiger's competition instead.
yeah
those guys are weasels anyways so it does not surprise me that they pull this.
WTF anyways, the product is called Mac OS X v10.4 and Tiger is just the codename. What the heck would it have to do with selling software? Surely people are not going to be confused the too. IMO, TigerDirect is doing this for free marketing. Like I said, they are weasels more than they are tigers. IMHO
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Seriously, why they would wait so long when OS X 'Tiger' was announced months ago, I do not know.
Maybe they're just trying to get their name out there, I hadn't thought of or looked at TigerDirect's web site in a few years, as I had found other retailers to buy computer junk through.
It's not like I personally would think that Apple's operating system had anything to do with a mass PC parts vendor.
In America, any publicity is good publicity, and the easiest lately seems to be to target a popular company/person with a lawsuit, irregardless of how frivolous.
Any serious action to prevent Apple's use of the name should have been sought when it was first announced, not wait until the eve of the product launch. This just gives the impression of riding on the coattails of Apple's popularity.
"If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice!" -Rush
TigerDirect are scum. Everything they do seems somewhat shady to me. And a company like them knew about a release called "Tiger" probably before most of us did. Spend your computer dollars elsewhere and show them what happens to scummy companies.
When I originally heard of OSX Tiger, I never even imagined a link "TigerDirect." Not that I care about Apple, but now when I hear OSX Tiger, I'll be sure to think "TigerDirect, another corporate bastard."
The reason we waited until today to sue was that we kept thinking Apple would do the right thing and rename the bastard to "Kitty" or something. But now we're sure they are going to besmirch our good name so we just can't wait.
Plus, don't you think we'll get more publicity if we do it today than any other day?
Sincerely,
the CEO of TigerDirect
(I forgot my name so I can't sign this and I'm too lazy to look myself up online)
If the product is forced to be renamed, I guess it won't be so hard to detect who is using the pre-mailed copies after all...
"Hello, Technical Support? I'd like a hand with my new Apple OS, please?" "Certainly, sir- and which OS is this?" "Tiger" "I'm sorry, sir- you were supposed to have returned that package. If you'd asked for support on "Warthog", I could have assisted you. Goodbye."At the root of the issue appears to internet search results. Tiger Direct contends that Apple's use of the name has adversely affected its ranking amongst the Internet's largest search engines, Google and Yahoo, bumping the company from its usual spot in the first three results.
AYFKM?!
They don't sell Macs so they can't capitalize on the name.
if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
Pathetic...Who owns the word "God"?
...kind of a side note, but in the Mac world, is the 10.x to 10.y move like a Service Pack for Windows machine? I ask because it seems like it's been a large build-up and I was under the impression that this was a 'new' OS, in the same way that Win2000 was 'new' relative to the Win98. But with all the press, it seems like this is more of a Service Pack type thing.
Thanks!
-Valiss
I love that Tigerdirect ad right above the article. You're amazing slashdot.
it is odd for them to wait until now to try and halt such a heralded product.
Not odd at all, for a few reasons. Only upper management (let's call them the CxOs) would have the corporate clout to initiate a lawsuit against a big-name corp like Apple. Consider the following hypothetical scenarios:
1. Prior Apple products have had internal code names that were used in a semi-public way. (The Sagan/BHA saga comes to mind.) The CxOs thought Tiger was just such a code name, and, being clueless as only management can be, didn't realize until this late that it was not the case.
2. The CxOs, being clueless as only management can be, hadn't heard of Apple's "Tiger" until now.
3. The CxOs, realizing that this was an open-and-shut case, figured they'd give Apple enough rope to hang themselves. They're all expert blackmailers - sorry, "negotiators" - and know that Apple is now facing a time crunch. Apple has a hard deadline and must settle on Tiger Direct's terms.
Don't know about you, but #3 strikes me as really plausible. I don't know if that makes me cynical or just experienced, but I don't see Tiger's behavior as odd, in the sense of "statistically unusual".
Perhaps it is a play at some discount advertising??
Must be a conspiracy.. Microsoft must be paying Tiger some cash under the table to delay the Launch of new OS.
The sad thing is, there were probably a ton of you reading this statement and nodding your heads in agreement. Get a grip people.
you can't trademark a common word. They will lose just like Microsoft did against Lindows.
In the article it mentions that they have a TradeMark on the word Tiger. I was under the impression that you couldn't trademark common individual words like Tiger.
Can anyone shed some light?
OSX Weasel? OS/XXX? Dingo?
I've often wondered why in-stock items at Tiger Direct take twelve days to find in their own warehouse and another four days to bother shipping and this only confirms my suspicion: they're smoking some incredible sh*t man.
Apple is going to slam dance with them in court.
If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
If this is true, then Jaguar has standing to sue as well.
"But your honor, these shysters have a prior history of this conduct!"
SHORYUKEN!!!!
And what about companies such as "Tiger Gaming", which allows someone to play poker online?
When was the last time you read so much about TigerDirect? They just want to piggyback on the hoopla around Tiger OS's release.
If companies can be sued for the use of trademarked names being used as pre-released product code names the Texas Longhorns have a BIG lawsuit with the folks in Redmond :)
Cheap Publicity.
Mode (3) smart-aleck mode. Press * to return to main menu.
Anyone remember the Tiger Learning Computer they used to sell at Toys R Us? Oddly enough, it was basically an Apple //e.
http://www.applefritter.com/node/239
Isn't the real name of Tiger just MacOS 10.4? Who would think of suing over a product's codename? Maybe the University of Texas should sue Microsoft for using their nickname and a likeness of one of the school symbols (who else has an orange longhorn?)?
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
"At the root of the issue appears to internet search results. Tiger Direct contends that Apple's use of the name has adversely affected its ranking amongst the Internet's largest search engines"
;)
Suing a company because they've affected your Google ranking? Hrm. Guess they better hire one of those SEO firms to fix this.
what's the court going to do? tell Google/yahoo/etc to remove all references to "Tiger" just so Tiger Direct will get better search rankings?
Sounds pretty silly to me.
I've ordered several things from TigerDirect. Now, thanks to Apple, I don't know if I should enter purchases into a web page or just send it directly to the operating system.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
nothing more than a cheap ploy to get themselves some free plublicity because their product quality has been slipping and they are loosing customers daily to Newegg.com and Pricewatch.
Taking legal action well after you presumably should have known and been able to is called laches, and may weigh against Tiger Direct in this case.
ObDisclaimer: IANAL
...when you're writing a game...tweak the difficulty of "Easy" to something [your mother] can cope with. -- onion2k
Have you read Tiger Direct's BBB record? It is horrible! They had FTC action taken against them for false warranty claims. I don't trust anything that business does.
by whatever German company produced the Tiger tank in WWII. Duh.
I know a bunch of people have complained on message boards around the net regrarding their Mail-In-Rebates (or lack thereof).
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
But now that Tiger Direct has made their point , as a consumer I need to make this crystal clear.
I will not order products from a company I perceive to be using the legal system to milk money from innovators. I had heard of tiger direct before this. I've done business with tiger direct, because they had decent prices on a motherboard I wanted. I will remember tiger direct as that company I don't wish to do business with from now on, as they use underhanded tactics to profit from the buzz of another company that would never be confused with their own products offerings.
[quote]At the root of the issue appears to internet search results. Tiger Direct contends that Apple's use of the name has adversely affected its ranking amongst the Internet's largest search engines, Google and Yahoo, bumping the company from its usual spot in the first three results.[/quote]
Umm... I just googled for Tiger, and Tigerdirect was listed second. OSX Tiger was fourth. What are they bitching about again?
OTOH, TigerDirect isn't in the top 70 results on yahoo... maybe Tiger Woods is next, since he was fifth, and must have bumped TigerDirect out of its usual spot in the top 70 or so.
The Williams H. Gates III Foundation has just announced a $1 million donation to the University of Texas, home of the Longhorns football team.
I noticed that if you try to buy an iPod through Amazon.com, it ships from an affiliated vendor: Tiger Direct. And it's much cheaper than the Apple Store. Watch their source of supply dry up instantly. You can't work with Apple and against Apple at the same time and expect to get away with it.
It is obvious that Tiger direct has been well aware of Apple's policies and strategies for a long time. There's no reason for them to have filed this lawsuit now, except to piggyback Apple's publicity. This suit will be quashed quickly.
A company that has thousands of complaints about not paying rebates run by what amounts to a bunch of criminals (false advertising, bait and switch tactics, changing people's order on them without their consent, etc, etc) decides to sue over something as stupid as this.
Apple, please don't settle. Make these wannabe guidos suffer.
TigerDirect is among (the?) the worst out there in terms of customer service. Their return policies are a joke, and their customer hostile attitude is disgusting.
They need to fucking die.
1q2w3e4r5t6y7u8i9o0pqawsedrftgthyjukilo;p'azsxdcf
They'll beat it because "Tiger" is not, AFAIK, the operating system's trade name, but a code name. And last I checked, Tiger doesn't develop operating systems, so how can there be any "confusion in the marketplace" over this?
That said, getting off Tiger Direct's mailing lists is like trying to wade out of a tar pit (metaphorically speaking, of course).
Those who can, do. Those who can't, write technology blogs.
The specific legal test in the case of trademark suits is "consumer confusion". In other words, if the mark is used in such a way that ordinary consumers could be confused into thinking that Tiger OS and TigerDirect were somehow associated, it would be ruled as an infringement.
To give a specific example, there is nothing wrong with a guy named Bob McDonald naming his company "McDonald's Auto Repair". But if he uses yellow text in a style similar to McDonald's restaurant, he's potentially infringing. If he adds a symbol that looks like the Golden Arches, he's definitely infringing, as upon seeing his shop you would very likely find yourself thinking "Huh? When did McDonald's (the restaurant) get into the auto repair business?". Depending on usage, a trademark can be infringing in completely different markets (auto repair vs. restaurant), or non-infringing even in very similar markets (operating system vs. computer store).
So, in this case the question is whether a consumer would erroneously assume that there was some association between Tiger the OS and TigerDirect the store.
In my opinion, not a frickin' chance. It's an attempt at extortion, as others have already pointed out, and will very probably be defeated in court. It's worth noting that this isn't the first time Apple finds itself in a trademark battle -- they were sued by Apple Records, and (obviously) won.
ZFS: because love is never having to say fsck
Its like reading an anti-MS thread with a pro-MS advertisement below the story....
The Doormat
If you're not outraged, then you're not paying attention.
Microsoft was also given the copyright to the Apple at one point by mistake. Who knows, I think this is complete BS on the part of tigerdirect, and if i had been buying things from them, I wouldn't any longer.
no it's not. can't you see that? *shakes head*
I hope I didn't brain my damage.
Okay, just a quick Google search came up with these:
... and the list goes on. I find it hard to believe that the timing of this is coincidental. It seems to be nothing more than a cheap bid for a settlement. It also seems that, to this point, TigerDirect has failed to defend their trademarks, allowing them to enter into common usage regarding major technologies (Java and Mac OS X). I'm sure Xerox could give TigerDirect a quick rundown on what they can expect next.
1. TigerDirect (listed in results *before* OS X 10.4, by the way)
2. Mac OS X 10.4
3. Tiger Map Server software
4. Paper Tiger software
5. Ti TIGER boards
6. White Tiger Technologies
7. Purple Tiger Software
8. J2SE 5.0 Tiger
Arr! The laws of physics be a harsh mistress!
According to a search on USPTO.gov using Tiger Direct on the owner name as my search parameters I don't see them having a trade mark on Tiger.
E RSYSTEMSO M
They have 11 entries almost al with the word Tiger in them but not the word Tiger alone. In fact all of their trademarks with tiger in them are one word entries.
XCONNECT
TIGERPC.COM
TIGERTV.COM
TIG
TIGERDIRECT
TIGERDIRECT
TIGERDIRECT.C
there are all the live trademarks.
See for your self.
Sorry, teleporters just kill you and then make a copy. A perfect, soul-less copy.
It's all very silly, really. Apple will hide ( possibly quite effectively ) behind the "the official name is OS X 10.4, 'Tiger' is just a catchy internal release name", and Tiger Direct will get to either settle or withdraw their case after pulling down some nice publicity. Of course, IANAL, who knows how this will turn out. Still, Tiger makes absolutely nothing like an operating system... do they really make software?? I shudder at the thought of what that must be like...
While I am no big fan of Apple's, Tiger is full of shit on this one. First of all TigerDirect has no stake in the computer operating systems business as they are a reseller like CDW. Not to mention TD does not even sell Apple products with the exception of two iPod models which are the HP-rebranded ones anyways.
Second, it has been well known that Apple is using species in the cat family as names for its OS X point releases (Jaguar, Panther, etc.) so "Tiger" would be a logical choice. It would be like Rubicon Express (they make suspension syustems for Jeep) suing Paramount because Deep Space Nine used the name "Rubicon" for one of its runabouts.
What this whole situation stinks of is TigerDirect wanting to pocket some of Apple's money. Greed is the only logical explaination for such a stupid move on the part of TigerDirect.
Anonymous Cowards generally receive no replies because you're a coward and I'm a bitch
So, a code-name like Tiger cannot be attacked because it's simply an internal code-name.
When Apple decided to use "Tiger" in their advertising, this became a branding issue. The reason TigerDirect sought an injuction now is NOT the code-name but rather the use of the code-name in a publicity blitz, which results in a new brand creation.
While geeks may not like it, branding is a very painful discipline fraught with LOTS of legal ramifications. In this case, in order to protect their brand, Tiger had to respond to Apple's use of "Tiger" in advertising and could only elect to take legal action once Apple made the branding decision.
It's not slimy; it's not blackmail; it's branding and you defend your brands or you lose them (Kleenex, Xerox, etc.)
"... but you can love completely without complete understanding." - Norman Maclean, "A River Runs Through It"
http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/nis/newsearch2. asp?ID=1&strBCode=06330000&ComID=0633000027000500
Of course, they've had problems with the Beatles since day one, due to Apple Records. Initially, there was an agreement that Apple Computers could use the Apple name only for computer products--not music-related enterprises. Can you say "iPod"? http://www.forbes.com/2003/09/12/cx_ah_0912aapl.ht ml
Nothing for 6-digit uids?
It's going to affect rankings, much like how Wil Wright's new game "Spore" affected MY rankings for "Spore Cubes" from the day his game was announced.
www.SporeCubes.com
www.SporeProductions.com
News articles about his game knocked my rankings down from top 3 to bottom of the top 10, and it's only been a few weeks.
TigerDirect sells iPods...
The only reason to wait until the day before the software's launch is to increase the pressure on apple to either 1) abandon the name AFTER spending a small fortune on advertising or 2) increase the pressure on Apple to settle for an exorbitant amount of money. This amounts to extortion, and is highly unethical to say the least.
A hungry man will tell you anything if you give him a cookie.
Did you look at Apple's home page? They refer to the OS as "Tiger" three times, counting the headline bar and there's no mention of "OS X v10.4." This could be a legitimate legal complaint - certainly as legitimate as some of the crappy IP shit Apple has pulled.
The hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy has this to say about Trademarks:
Trademarks invented as a by-product of the great Publishing Collapse of Uralis Minor. The economic chaos that rained from the collapse of the word-industry put many lawyers, bankers, and administrative assistants out of work. However, one Lawyer, a Marsha Tweedle of Gregorian III noted that it wasn't the books themselves that were valuable but rather the little catch-phrases everyone was saying. Within a few decades most speech was trademarked and eventually this broke down the very fabric of many societies. In fact many wars have broken out since when opposing General's couldn't say the trademark slogans: "This is a terrible idea" and "Would you like some tea?"
"This isn't a study in computer science, its a study in human behavior"
Must be a conspiracy.. Microsoft must be paying Tiger some cash under the table to delay the Launch of new OS.
The sad thing is, there were probably a ton of you reading this statement and nodding your heads in agreement. Get a grip people.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/sectors/help/contactus. asp ;)
feel free to give them feed back, you know they deserve it
Blarney Quality Restaurant, Plants
Search for "tiger" on Google and you get the following top 5 results:
www.5tigers.org (5 Tigers: the Tiger Information Center)
www.tigerdirect.com (TigerDirect.com)
www.tigerhaven.org (Tiger Haven)
www.apple.com/macosx (Apple - Mac OS X)
www.tiger.gov.uk (Tailored Interactive Guidance on Employment Rights)
So, TigerDirect is contending that Apple using "Tiger" as a reference has knocked them from... what, #1 to #2? And somehow moved a Tiger information center to #1?
10.0: Cheetah
10.1: Puma
10.2: Jaguar
10.3: Panther
10.4: Bend over!
-- often wrong; never in doubt
..Would that be an operating system whose tops are made out of rubber and whose bottoms are made out of springs?
"Its not so much a crash.. its more of a bounce, it'll be back up soon."
Starsucks
I've met these people... Total white trash garbage running a use parts mom-and-pops PC shop. They've grown quite a bit, but I can see they still have the same tendencies.
I have an account there, as they occasionally have good deals on accessories and if you don't mind waiting, can find decent deals on cameras and things.
However, this is just another case of another business trying to extort another in the courts. The taxpayer foots the bill for these games, I'm sick of it.
I just zipped off an email from my account on their web site and told them to close the account and stop sending me their catalogs, I wasn't interested in using a business that would resort to sleezy tactics such as this.
It won't make a bit of difference, management has been seduced by the illusion of dollar signs painted by their legal counsel.
Adios, Tiger Direct - you won't see another penny from me.
[Nelson]Ha haaaa![/Nelson]
Touche, TigerDirect!
"The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well."
I don't know if Tiger Beer is traded in the USA, but if so, and the plaintiff has not bothered suing them, then surely Apple can argue that the "trademark" (like hell, are you trying to tell me you invented tigers?) is not being protected, thus no case..
Tony the Tiger works for Apple so don't hope for Kellogg getting involved.
WWF was having battles with the other WWF for years about the name. The World Widelife Fund finally won a few years back over the World Wrastlin' Federation. Are they in the same specific domain? Maybe, they both have to do with animals...
1) Attempt to gain publicity by pissing everyone off.
2) ???
3) PROFIT!!!111ONEONE11
I just searched for "tiger" in Google. Tiger Direct came up second. OSX Tiger came up fourth.
Did a search for "tiger direct". Tiger Direct came up first.
Did a search for "tiger osx". Apple's OSX Tiger search came up first.
Did a search for "tiger computer". Tiger Direct came up first.
What are they complaining about? All seems just fine with their rankings... at least on the Google side.
Pouring water into skunk musk doesn't make it stink any less.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, write technology blogs.
apparently, they've been bumped from the top 3 spots in searches.
searching google for "tiger direct" results in the first 4-5 hits pointing to tigerdirect.com.
searching for "tiger software" results in hit #1 pointing to tigerdirect.com
searching for "tiger" results in hit #2 pointing to tigerdirect.com.
pretty damn good results if you ask me. no confusion here.
in fact, none of the searches pointed me to any Apple pages within the first few hits.
The reason girls and Windows users don't understand UNIX is because all the documentation is in Man files.
they just changed their name to FuckTards.
GET FREE APPLE STUFF!
Who stands to benefit from an unsuccessful or even canceled launch of Tiger?
Why would a company like TigerDirect do this to Apple the day before the Tiger launch
Something's up here. Needless to say, my IT budget is going elsewhere. I advise all to stay away from such a litigious company.
This guy is way out there
Whether or not search engine rankings are a grounds for recovery in a trademark dispute, this claim seems to be inaccurate.
A quick search for "Tiger" on Google, Altavista, MSN, and Yahoo shows hardly any love for TigerDirect, with the site being displaced by sites about tigers, Tiger Woods, the U.S. "Tiger" project, and so on, in addition to Mac OS X code name "Tiger".
What has *science* done?!? -- Dr. Weird (ATHF)
I thought Sun's Java is also named Tiger. I wonder if Tiger Direct will sue them next...
What a wonderful system we have of lawsuits and such.
Good for Tiger Direct I mean if you want to talk about ridiculous lawsuits all you need to do is look back at Apples behavior over the past few years....... Some of thier lawsuits may have been justified but others have certianly been a bit over the top.
The Star Wars posts threw me off track. I mean you just can't get enough article's about Tiger!
The judge won't grant their injunction, and will probably toss the entire thing. But in the meantime, TigerDirect is suddenly getting a whole lot of free (minus the cost of filing the suit) publicity...
-- Niherlas
me and another friend who happen to be in the same gaming clan have both experienced credit card fruad after buying from tiger direct. I never told anyone in the clan about what I had done to me but one day he mentioned it happened after buying from Tiger Direct 3 years later. Cant be coincidence, someone over there is stealing CC #'s from the customers.
I have never shopped there since.
for maximum effect, the preceding post should be read monotone and at a steady cadence
Laches is similar to 'statute of limitations' except is equitable rather than statutory and is a common affirmative defense raised in civil actions.
Laches is derived from the French 'lecher' and is nearly synonymous with negligence.
In general, when a party has been guilty of laches in enforcing his right by great delay and lapse of time, this circumstance will at common law prejudice and sometimes operate in bar of a remedy which is discretionary for the court to afford. In courts of equity delay will also generally be prejudicial.
Basically, because TigerDirect waited until the day before launch before filing suit, even though the name has been very public for a year and more, Apple can claim that TigerDirect intentionally waited so as to extort them ("Neglecting to do what should or could, have been done to assert a claim or right for an unreasonable and unjustified time causing disadvantage to another.") Very easily claim so, too.
But laches may be excused from ignorance of the party's rights; from the obscurity of the transaction; by the pendency of a suit, and; where the party labors under a legal disability, as insanity, infancy and the like.
So, there is that response. TigerDirect can claim that their CEO is insane.
Don't forget that Apple Records sued Apple back in the day. I believe that Apple Computer ended up settling for an undisclosed amount, and promised never to use the name for anything music related. Which, of course, led to *another* lawsuit when the iPod came out. I don't konw what happened with that.
Anyway, screw Tiger Direct. They're like a really well-funded "grey-market" electronics distributor. Everytime I think of them, I think of Parasonic TVs and Somy compact disc players.
And then we shipped TIGER, DIRECT to all of our distributors. And where did we tell them to ship TIGER? DIRECT to the customers! I'm proud to say, our goal of getting TIGER DIRECTly in the hands of the people who need it the most has been met.
What kind of people are using TIGER? DIRECT your attention to Mr. Joe Smith. Joe likes to make movies. While using Windows 98, he felt like a gaffer boy. With Windows XP, a key grip. But with TIGER.. DIRECTor!
Head to the nearest Apple store and buy a copy of TIGER DIRECT from the source. Then when you've got the disc in your hands, put TIGER DIRECTly into your DVD drive!
TIGER. DIRECT from Apple's engineers to you.(tm)
Based on customer feedback, Tiger Direct seems to be pretty hit-or-miss about customer service and satisfaction.
They're doing more damage to their reputation with their own business practices than Apple could ever do by marketing OS X 10.4.
They just want the cash for "damages!"
They also want the free publicity. They couldn't have gotten that if they had sued them earlier.
This is a very bad move by Tiger Direct ...
People dislike other people / corperations that sue. This will be multiplyed by all of the upset apple fans that are waiting on their Copy of OS X (10.4 Tiger) and if their product is delayed most likely will never buy from Tiger Direct.
Most pre-order copies of OS X (10.4 Tiger) have already been shipped. If they are recalled in transit this will cause thousands of dollars in damages that Apple can file a counter suit for.
I purchase tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment for the company I work for though TigerDirect and they will not be seeing my buisness anymore.
- MOSKIE
Seriously this has to stop, trade marks are not shares in the English language. 'Tiger' the software company is not the same as 'Apple OSX Tiger' the software PRODUCT and certainly not the same as a series of products all named after cats. Although im certain Apple would be on the other end of the lawsuit if TigerDirect released a product called "Tiger Apple"
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Somehow this also reminds me of when, while threatened by Mr. Carl (Karl?) with a lawsuit over using "Sagan" as a code name for one of their products, Apple promptly changed the code name to BHa. (butt-head astronomer)
h tml
At which point, the humorless Mr. Sagan sued over that...
***
http://www.petting-zoo.net/~deadbeef/archive/582.
CUPERTINO, Calif. (Reuter) - Apple Computer Inc. said Wednesday it settled a lawsuit brought by astronomer Carl Sagan, who had objected to the company's use of his name.
Sagan's complaint stemmed from the use of his name at Apple as a code word for the development of its Power Macintosh 7100 computer,according to court documents.
After lawyers for Sagan complained, the company switched to a new name for the project.
But that did not satisfy Sagan, who sued Apple after news reports said that product managers had relabeled the project BHA, which supposedly stood for ``Butt-head Astronomer,'' the court documents stated.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to say what the initials stood for. ``It was an internal thing as all our codes are and was never meant for external consumption,'' she said.
***
So what'll we get here...SAD? (stupid a** distributor?)
If they want a court to believe they're concerned about dilution, they better have sued Hasbro too.
Let's hope HedgehogDirect doesn't find out about Ubuntu...
I remember when some or other court in the fabulous US of A decided that the word "Windows" was too generic to be used as a basis for a lawsuit. That was during the Lindows which became Linpsire episode, which Microsoft won, unsurprisingly, eventually.
I would dearly love to know just how one can trademark actual nouns and verbs (and adverbs and adjectives) from any language. Considering that a tiger is an animal, it kind of blows me away. Didn't Apple simply trademark it as "Mac OS X Tiger" in any case?
I think, if this suite gets through, I am going to go into business trademarking every word I possibly can from a number of dictionaries, including such terms as Doors, Roofs, Walls, Toilets, Floors, Beds, Tables etc to prevent any growth of Microsoft's empire and sue the crap out of Microsoft for every copy of Excell ever sold, and Tim Berners-Lee and everyone else in the software world for the use of any kind of Tables in software. Then I will trademark every animal in existence and sue everyone who uses one of those poor creatures in a name.
Seriously, though, I wonder why we're even allowed to speak or write the language anymore? Maybe Bush's next phase of the revolution will be to bring out a law enforcing three years of jail for using words that criticise the government.
The Texas Longhorns filed suit against Microsoft for... ah, who cares?
... as if millions of geeks suddenly added "0.0.0.0 tigerdirect.com" to their hosts file and a web server suddently went silent.
...Rob
The American Dream isn't an SUV and a house in the suburbs; it's Don't Tread On Me.
A. A. Milne
Disney Corp.
Tiger Direct
Apple Corps LTD.
Good thing they didn't actually copy OS features, or UI designs from anybody! Then they'd be in real trouble!
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Apple has a trademark on the name "Tiger" in the category "computer operating system software." More information here.
Now with umteen million posts on /. regarding TigerDirect, when you type that into the search bar all you'll find is posts about what big ass holes they are - lol. Comeon googlebot!!!
;)
I'm thinking that's a back fire
It's no suprise that they would wait until the last minute to file. They are just greedy bastards and want to put Apple into a bad position, hoping for a payoff. They apparently are not mentioning how Apple is marketing for them by increasing the public awareness of "Tiger".
But TigerDirect is #2 on a Google search for 'tiger'... what are they talking about?
Scorta futuere amo!
Heh. Ehhhh.
"Would it kill you to put down the toilet seat?" -- Maya Angelou
I think you're right - this seems to be entirely about advertising Tiger Direct. I do not think it is coincedence that the first time I had ever seen an advert for Tiger Direct was today, on Slashdot as it happens.
So, consider this lawsuit part of an advertising campaign to capitalise on Apple's publicising of the word "Tiger". Maybe Apple should countersue for parisitic marketing?
Dunx
Converting caffeine into code since 1982
TigerDirect apparently has a free catalog. Perhaps we could protest this wrongdoing by all ordering one (and of course, not purchasing anything from it). If we can get 1 million people to download Opera, perhaps we could get a large number of people to order a catalog? Even if it doesn't cost them much, it at least might serve as a message to them that their potential customers aren't too happy with their latest decision.
1. Whether or not there is a trademark issue here is far more complex issue to sort out than any of the random speculation that is going on here at slashdot.
2. The courts won't look kindly upon the litigant if it can be shown that they actually chose to wait until the last minute to claim, i.e. an attempt to wield maximum damage on Apple.
The test for trademark infringement is basically whether or not the use of the mark causes confusion, and the use of the mark has to be within the same "area" that the original mark is registered for.
I don't think TigerDirect has a good case: Apple's use of "Tiger" has always been subordinate to "OS/X" and "10.4" - how often have you seen Apple use the word Tiger as itself? In addition, Apple demonstrate history of using cat words, of which Tiger is merely one in a line.
Good luck TigerDirect, you're _really_ going to need it.
Tiger isn't the actual name for Mac OS 10.4, it's just a codename.
3 per week... sounds like TigerDirect is pumping up its distribution numbers and I would not put this past them.
It also goes hand and hand with why it takes sooo many requests to have the catalog stopped. Remember, they make their money off advertising. Product placement in their catalog costs bucks and they sell that by stating catalog distribution numbers to the prospective advertisees.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
Whoops! Wrong lawsuit!
---anactofgod---
"Equal opportunity swindling - *that* is the true test of a sustainable democracy."
If everyone here searched for Tiger on google and found a furries site and clicked on it, pretty soon it would rank number one on google and be the I Feel Lucky results.
I wonder what they would do then?
Welcome to the Entropy Bar, may I take your order?
In the past I had heard good things about TigerDirect, but I do most of my ordering from newegg.com. Don't think I'll be trying out TigerDirect any time soon.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Like trademarking the word "Apple". Please buy a clue thanks.
Have you ever been to a turkish prison?
1) Apple only announced the April 29th launch date publicly on April 12, 2005. That's critical in asking "Why only now?" -- there was nothing imminent prior to that.
2) Apple tried registering "Tiger" as a trademark (with intent-to-use) in July 2003, but was denied b/c of possible confusion. Apple won the Tiger trademark by agreeing to limit its use to computer operating software.
3) Tiger attempted to settle, and then filed an opposition to Apple's mark in December 2004.
4) Tiger has six registered marks, and several other common-law marks.
Much of this wouldn't matter (IMHO) if Apple wasn't a reseller itself. But since they do sell many of the same products as TigerDirect, there is a beef. Tiger makes a good case that Apple is using the Tiger mark more broadly that it is entitled, to venture into other sales areas than just operating systems, and that that can affect Tiger's revenues. Here's a quote from their court memorandum:
Personally, I don't think this passes the "likelihood of confusion" test, but that's for a court to decide. If I were in TigerDirect's shoes, I'd similarly be upset.I am currently seeing a tigerdirect.com banner ad on this page.
This post patent pending.
Tiger is not just the codename moron, look on Apple.com. At the top it says "Tiger unleashed." and below it says "Tiger available tomorrow". If you click on it the subsequent page says "Tiger World Premiere" and "Purchase Max OS X Tiger".
So no, not just a codename.
Let's hope this nonsense gets thrown out of court. Idiots.
you had me at #!
TigerDirect might have a case relating to Apple using Tiger in their OS, but Sun released Java 5.0 "Tiger" last year. Why does it matter? Sun, Apple and TigerDirect are all doing business in the same industry; hence the Tiger trademark comes into question. I personally was calling Java 5.0, Tiger before I knew Mac OS X Tiger was being released. Did Apple or Sun sue each other about the naming? Did TigerDirect sue Sun for branding it's latest Java release as Tiger? No and no. This, as other people have stated, is a purely a money grab. If someone was looking for a Mac, then TigerDirect wouldn't be on their list of places to go. If someone was looking for x86/amd64 related stuff, Apple's site wouldn't be the place to go. Anyway, the injuction might come a little to late for over here in Australia, Tiger gets released in about 9hrs.
Unless you cound the HP iPod.
But deeper than that, I have a big order with Apple that I've held off on until Tiger ships and is included with new CPUs.
As long as we're thinking litigation...
If they throw this wrench into Apple's rollout,
and shipping on Tiger halts
and flatpacks of the OS have to be pulled from machines otherwise shipping Friday,
and our project grinds to a halt, I - and everyone like me -
(and I think there's a few folks who have been holding out for Friday) are harmed,
Tiger Direct stands to lose not only their action against Apple,
but wouldn't everyone whose work was hung up have a claim against them?
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
So there's more to that case than just name overlap.
-- $SIGNATURE
WWF is an acronym not a common word. That lawsuit has no commonality with this issue.
Hmmm. Maybe MS got ticked off at Apple for beating Longhorn with all those nifty features, and, after placing money in SCO's legal fund, decided to hit "the other thorn in their side" by advising, and possibly funding TigerDirect somehow. Then, after having TigerDirect delay Apple's Tiger in court for at least 18 months, will have their OS beat Apple to market and be first with all those features. Hmmmm. Mulder? Scully? Can we find a trail of Morley cigarette butts somewhere between Redmond and TigerDirect's HQ?
The hearing is set for Tuesday, May 3rd, which allows four whole days for Apple to sell Tiger.
Tiger Direct is making sure that they will never be able to sell ipod's. no seriously, What i see this doing other than being a damn cheap shot is putting a larger split between the Apple and PC comunity atleast the (i buy my cheap crap at Tiger Direct PC comunity) any pc person that doesn't hate apple (there are alot of us) i feel just hate TD more... the only way i see this whole thing hurting Tiger Direct's ablity to reach there customers is that now they don't want to buy from them.. just my thoughts.. and i hope the same as alot out there. Apple shouldn't have any issues with this..
'...if only "Jumping to a Conclusion" was an event in the Olympics.'
Only a fag wouldn't want the Tiger Direct catalog. It's geek porn of the highest order.
to TigerDirect.com
"Suing Apple over 'Tiger'? Yeesh, that's like Apple Records suing Apple over 'Apple'. 'Apple' and 'Tiger' are common names. If you don't want any confusion, call yourselves 'Butthead Computer Stuff'.
From now on I'll order from Newegg."
Reference:
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?CarlSagan
If you pick a common name like tiger, don't be surprised if others use it in different contexts.
If you want total protection, make up a name that is not in use (as a common dictionary word!) and you will get stronger protection for it.
Lots of folks are saying Tiger Direct is in the right here. I don't agree. Tiger is a common word to start with, so trademark protection should be weaker. Apple has a trademark on Tiger in this domain, so injunction seems a bit premature.
I for one plan on linking to Apple site with the word Tiger in my link, as follows:
Tiger http://www.apple.com/macosx/
blah blah... "Lameness filter encountered." geesh.
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
This is the exact type of law suit Apple tends to file. Nice to see them get smacked by one themselves.
I don't think a company (Tiger Direct) that is well-known for luring customers with rebates and deals that will oft-times never be fulfilled has any place on the plaintiff's side of a courtroom. I don't know what they think they're going to accomplish with this anyway...advertising? I mean, what the hell?
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
but advertising. Think of the publicity Tiger Direct will get if they halt the product. They are turning the tables and benefiting from Apple's use of "Tiger."
Ludwig Wittgenstein
This is either a slimy attempt to blackmail Apple into giving them a wad of cash to make the problem go away, rather than face a possible injunction that would seriously mess up their marketting plans.
Or, it's a PR stunt by TigerDirect. I would imagine TigerDirects' website has gotten more hits in the past few hours just from this slashdot story than they have all week.
Even if TigerDirect loses (and they will), they benefit greatly from all the press coverage. You know the old saying, no news is bad news.
If this lawsuit were against Microsoft, by a company named "Longhorn", you guys would be all for it. What's up with the /. lovefest any time Apple comes up?
if a person is trying to get to the tigerdirect homepage and they use "tiger" as a search term, they already know the name of the store they are looking for and they know that they're looking for a computer parts store. they shouldn't have any trouble finding it.
if apple's use of tiger was affecting their search ranking for terms a person would use to find an arbitrary store (like "computer retailer" or "computer parts") they might have a stronger case.
...has requested an injunction that could prevent Friday's launch of the Tiger OS.
Not bloody likely, unless they also obtain an injunction against FedEx (preorders have already been shipped).
Sent from my iPhone
Okay, let's just say I am looking for the company that sells computer hardware and software and I know the name of the company is "Tiger something or other". So I search for "Tiger".
Now your hits may varry, but what I got was:
(0) Google "News results for tiger" - linking to three Apple OS X Tiger related articles but this doesn't really count since Tiger Direct wouldn't show up in News anyway.
(1) A link to 5 Tigers information center that is about live tigers
(2) Well what have we here? Tiger Direct - the #2 result after a website about real Tigers!!??!!
(3) Tiger Haven with more stuff about real tigers
(4) Finally, Apple's OS X Tiger website - in at number 4
In the top ten are also sites on Tiger Woods and - huh? Tiger Airways!!! Did someone's lawyers miss something here?
So let's try the search again, but this time with "Tiger Software"
(0) Google News links to two stories, both on Apple OS X Tiger
Oh here it is! This must be what has Tiger Direct's lawyers in a fuss:
(1) Tiger Direct!!!! Number one on the results!
(2) The Paper Tiger - SOFTWARE to organize something or other
(3) Somesite talking about TIGER software - but it isn't Apple's OS X Tiger - huh?
(4) Finally Zeropaid with a news bit about Apple OS X Tiger.
Well I must be out to lunch because the two most obviously offensive Google searches (to me anyway) came up empty.
Even searches like "buy tiger" come up with Tiger Woods, Tiger tables, some UK site not about Apple, and even an Amazon link in the top 5 but it is for selling Tiger Woods stuff, not OS X.
This lawsuit is stupid - has erased any hope of me ever buying from Tiger Direct, and is intended to drive traffic to TigerDirect.com so I suggest you don't go there unless you are going to complain.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
/. has ads?
Dear TigerDirect, I will never use you due to two things: your terrible reputation, and this idiotic lawsuit against Apple a DAY before they release a product whose name has been known for over a YEAR. You are now officially a part of the problem with this country. You have joined the likes of SCO and other litigious companies. Congratulations. Good luck with that rebate thing, signed
(%i1) factor(777353);
(%o1) 777353
Make sure to press suit against Giant Tiger so they don't end up taking precious advertizing space from tigger direct.
Oh, and sue Africa too. I heard there were some critters trying to usurp the Tiger name, too.
C.
TIGER DIRECT, INC.
Customer Experience
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to a pattern of complaints and unanswered complaints.
Specifically our files show a pattern of complaints alleging dissatisfaction with product quality, failure to deliver promised goods, service issues, misrepresentation in advertising and marketing practices and the failure to address and overcome the basic cause of complaints brought to their attention by the Better Business Bureau.
Complaints allege customers are led to believe they are buying new, Brand Name computer systems, parts and other products with either a 90-day, or 1 year warranty. Complainants allege they are receiving generic, defective and refurbished items and only a 30-day warranty with the option to purchase the 1-year warranty. Customers who purchase the warranty also experience difficulty in getting return phone calls to get the problems fixed or replaced. Customer are told they may return the items for replacement, but they will need to pay again for the replacement and will credited back when the item is returned and received by the company.
Some of the complaints have issues with the advertised rebate, both the catalog and web site have numerous offers for items with a mail-in rebate. Upon receiving the products the rebate application is not included in the package. Customers are told the rebate application is on the website and customers are required to comply with the program and submit paperwork that they never received. Many are denied because the product they have purchased does not have the advertised rebate, the rebate has expired, and some rebates are only good if the item is purchased with a computer. Many customers feel they have been victims of bait and switch, and are unable to return the products because the package has been open. Customers who have contacted customer service with concerns have problem with getting return calls, emails, and experience unresponsiveness and unconcerned customer service staff. However, the company has responded to most complaints presented by the Bureau.
Licensing Information
This company is in an industry that may require licensing, bonding or registration in order to lawfully do business. The Bureau encourages you to check with the appropriate agency to be certain any requirements are currently being met.
Additional Business Names
ASSEENONTVPC
Systemax, Inc.
TigerDirect.com.
Additional Telephone Numbers
(305) 415-2200
(305) 415-2201
(305) 415-2295
(800) 269-8709
(800) 349-8133
(800) 364-9483
(800) 677-2562
(800) 678-0198
(800) 800-8300
(800) 879-1597
(800) 888-4437
(800) 888-6111
(800) 897-0021
(800) 955-1888
(888) 333-8200
(888) 335-4062
(888) 776-8382
(888) 872-7274
(888) 999-3600.
Additional Addresses
7795 W. Flagler St Suite 35, Miami, FL 33144
Corporate Sales Dept. 1100 Perimeter W Suite 118, Morrisville, NC 27560
Warehouse 175 Ambassador Dr., Naperville, IL 60540.
Company Management
Carl Fiorentino, President
Gilbert Fiorentino, CEO
Joseph Dunne, CFO
Richard Wallet, Executive Vice President
Tony Jones, Vice President Call Center Op.
Rosemary Lindsay, Customer Service Manager
Kenneth Howard, Customer Service Department.
Government Actions
On November 4, 1999, case C3903, the Federal Trade Commission
issued a Decision & Order against Tiger Direct for violations
of the Pre-sale Availability Rule, the Disclosure Rule and the
Warranty Act. Without admitting any wrong doing, Tiger Direct
agrees to 1) not represent that it provides On-Site Service
unless all limitations and conditions that apply are disclosed;
2) fulfill obligations under the warranty within a reasonable
period of time after receiving notice from the consumer; and
3) shall cease and desist from failing to make warranty text
available for examination prior to s
First I would like to say that my experience purchasing items from tigerdirect was terrible. I thought they were a large reputable company (and one of a few which I have found that actually accepts purchase orders from Universities and has competitive prices). I work at a university so I have to go through my purchasing department. They write up a purchase order based on my requisition form. The purchase order is then faxed to tigerdirect. The purchase order form also has printed on it the exact delivery location at the university.
..oops TigerDirect that has a very different business model and sells in general everything under the sun (from cell phones to office furniture) related to consumer grade products. I hope the judge finds that TigerDirect is indeed full of shit. I hope everyone on /. can boycott purchasing items from TigerDirect. There are lots of better options out there.
The idiots at tigerdirect simply addressed in a general format to the university (no department name or anything). Well my university has hundreds of departments, is stretched across like 100 acres, and employees 15000+ people.
So the package was lost for a month. Then we ordered it again and they couldn't find the purchase order that was faxed to them. Finally after two months when I did get my CPU fan and CPU grease, they shipped me some generic Silver compound because I they ran out of stock of the Arctic Silver 5!!!!! I HATE COMPANIES THAT DO THIS. It's like purchasing a pair of NIKES and getting AVIA's.
If you haven't noticed TigerDirect is a direct shipper meaning that they don't have railroad crates or warehouses full of merchandise. They aren't even a reseller but are simply a "middleman comapny" that sends the order out to the large reseller who then sends you the item.
If you know what's good for stay away from any company with this sort of business model because their employees are very much clueless about their own products so you won't get support (if any at all).
As far as this case vs. Apple is concerned I don't see how Apple's Tiger Operating System has anything to do with a company named Shit
There is no law that says a company must sue immediately upon learning of a trademark infringement. In fact, it almost never makes sense to do so. Let's look at two examples:
1. If the infringing company is smaller, then it makes sense to wait until they get big enough to make the infringement worth suing over.
2. In the case of a larger company infringing IP, then it makes sense to wait until they are in a tight situation to make the case more likely to go in the claimant's favor.
Lawsuits seem to favor the contender with more money, planning a suit strategically makes sense and is perfectly legal.
Also, note the term "infringe" and its etymology. Abusing someone's IP is not always cut and dry, and certainly it's not here. IANAL, but it seems TigerDirect's motives would not affect the legality or accuracy of their claims or purpose for suing.
"Ain't I a stinka..." - Bugs
I will never purchase any thing from Tiger Direct again.
Have they given any thought of what this going to do to their reputation? Talk about trying to get a piece of the cake/action/pie.
Why can't they just bask in the glory, and know that if they would have planned to distribute the new OS X Tiger, they could have potentially wallowed in a bunch of free brand marketing.
F'n. IDIOTS! Screw Tiger Direct! Dammit, this pisses me off.
By waiting until the day before, Tiger Direct hopes to put Apple in full panic mode, maximizing the amount of payoff that they would receive.
who makes several tiger branded motherboards...
Then I can sue Tiger Direct and Apple together for infringing on my feline trademark not to mention all those companies who sell network cables the b*st*rds.
Profit!
to their sales now that they got slashdotted. Ironic justice. The heck with their sales, their entire availability.
AC's modded -6. I don't see you, I don't mod you, anything you say is lost. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
Those companies that somehow are using the word Direct are poor bastards... they're next on TigerDirect's hit list. Long live the American justice system.
Just for the halibut, I tried googling for Tiger, And Tiger Direct still comes out first anyway.
I think the World Wildlife Fund screwed up big time. They should have licenced the WWF acronym and website to the "wrestling" folks. They could have taken in more money in a single WWF RAW event than an entire year's fundraising.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
Why didn't Jaguar Software sue as well?
Or Puma Software?
"We're an apex predator with the fecundity of a base level herbivore... We're a virus with shoes..." RazorJAK
While I may be wrong on this one, my memory tells me that TigerDirect is a retailer and reseller. I would think their claim would fall under service mark categories. An operating system falls under material categories and would be a different classification then reseller services. If a court interprets it that way it'd be perfectly legit. For example, if I wanted to make a new pair of jeans and call them "Liquid Plumbr", it's all good since jeans are in a different class than household products. No one will confuse clothing with cleaners. The only thing preventing it is pragmatism...it'd be a stupid name for jeans.
What may blur the lines in this case is that Apple does have a retail division. I still think the "Tiger" name would fall in the realm of different classes of marks.
In a way both of them are really screwed since Princeton's used the Tiger name for a lot longer period of time then either Apple or TD has existed.
ed --- hates frivolous litigation
Redirect my zombies... aaah!
Look for OSX 10.4.1, "Litigious Assholes", in stores this weekend.
This is a grab for stupid tech media outlets to run this story and act as free advertising for TigerDirect.
I'm sure the cost to serve papers and have the judge dismiss is less than the cost of a real PR campaign.
And slashdot, you fell for it. Just like everybody else.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Are trademarks case-sensitive?
Excerpt from http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/overview.html
---
The term TIGER® comes from the acronym Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing which is the name for the system and digital database developed at the U.S. Census Bureau to support its mapping needs for the Decennial Census and other Bureau programs.
---
Unless trademarks are case-sensitive, sounds like TigerDirect's case vanishes into thin air.
The parent company of Tiger Direct is System Max which IIRC, was one of the mac clone makers before Mr. Jobs killed them to stop Apple from self-destructing.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
I guess Giant Tiger should sue as well.
Fiat Homos et Pereat Theos
This is important because mere copyright infringement will not result in a large award of damages without extensive proof of the damage incured.
I would hope a lawyer such as yourself would know the difference between a copyright and a trademark.
I'm surprised the Slashdot crowd doesn't know real karma when they see it...
www.BradBeckett.com, druge report for teens!
What does this have to do with capitalism or competition? This is a non-competitive company attempting to turn a buck and get some attention by using slimy legal maneuvers.
They'rrrrrrrrre *Great*!
On the contrary, I learned in school long about about trademark. I can no more create a computer company named AppleSoftware, which infringes on the trademark of Apple any more than Apple can create an OS named Tiger than infringes on the TigerSoftware name. They are in the same market. Now, if they were making something called the Tiger Lawn Mower (if something like that didn't already exist), that's a completely different story. If there is a Texas software company named Longhorn Software, they might not file suit until they were sure Microsoft was no just using an internal code name, but really naming their product. Maybe Tiger Direct isn't that naive, but is Apple really that naive as well to just go take names? Slashdot is bound and determined to kiss up to Apple's position here. Don't forget that Apple is pulling books off shelves *cough*nazis*cough*, sueing websites in the name of "intellectual property" and fighting to reveal journalistic sources. It is certainly fair play that Apple has to play by the rules. All that imagination for computer design, but they couldn't come up with a more original, and unused, name? Please, they were dumb enough to assume everything they do springs from the well of stuff-nobody-but-them-has-thought-of. Guess what, Apple... somebody already thought of it, so how about playing by the same rules as everyone else?
Cleaning the net one sed at a time! s/sex/sermons/; s/hot/holy/; s/goats/thebible/; www.holysermonswiththebible.com
Smilodon or Sabretooth
-or-
B.H.T.D.
The party's over
How about they rename it Mac OS Liger since it's pretty much my favorite animal. They're bred for their skills in magic, so it would be an appropirate name for Apple's new OS.
Dear CmdrTaco:
Please remove Tiger Direct as a sponsor from your banner ads or I shall use Firefox's Adblock to filter *all* your banner ads. Your choice. Thanks.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Just change the first letter to 'l.'
sig not found
During the 9.x days, another company tried to sue Apple as their product was called "OS-9".
Apple's response? Their product is "MacOS 9.0", not "OS" 9.
(and IIRC, it was renamed MacOS as Apple couldn't trademark System)
I expect we'll see something similar here. People can call it tiger, but the full product name is "MacOS X 10.4 Tiger" (as it appears on all packaging). I would expect that Apple would have trademarked that a long time ago.
I use Macs to up my productivity, so up yours Microsoft!
just in case you didn't know about apple's new osx version, here is a tiger direct link.
1. Trademark all the big cat names.
2. Wait for new Apple OS to be released.
3. Sue Apple.
4. ????
5. Profit!!!
It's probably cheaper to buy some lawyers and sue some big company than buy traditional media advertising.
If Apple can trademark a piece of fruit, so can TigerDirect.
Vote for Pedro
Microsoft sued by University of Texas for blitzing the "Longhorn" name?
For goodness sake it is a CODENAME! People just reference things by the codename because it is easier.
And how exactly did "tiger direct" get "Tiger" trademarked?
Wait, on second thought, don't we all know the answer?
Procrastinating life a way at a rapid rate of speed.
I wonder who the brainchild is at Apple that decided on the name "Tiger" for the upcoming release. Didn't they have any clue at all that this might happen?
obviously does not know the difference between trademark and copyright, not a lawyer, just a karma whore
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Trademarks have to be defended in order to remain valid, unlike patents and copyrights.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
There's some issues with using general words/names etc as trademarks though. Depending on the country, MS has found that attempting to enforce ownership of the "Windows" name meets with varying success
While the suit may have some merit, it is odd for them to wait until now to try and halt such a heralded product.
You wait to get the Defendant to settle. "Reverse Confusion" cases involve small, senior user Plaintiffs suing big, junior user Defendants who usually have what lawyers love: DEEP POCKETS!
Tiger Direct doesn't care about Apple's "heralded" product. This is a potential windfall for a small computer retailer.
Don't think it's been pointed out yet, but, if I'm reading the USPTO page correctly someone (I would presume TigerDirect) filed opposition to Apple's trademark on December 15th. If it was them, this lawsuit, while still baseless in my opinion, is not quite as out of left field as it seems at first blush.
If Microware can't win a trandmark lawsuit regarding OS-9 against Apple, then TigerDirect has no chance at all!
Pussy Cat :)
WWF is an abbreviation, not an acronym.
Wasn't "Tiger" the name of that company that made all those hand-held LCD games from the 80's to the late 90's?
8==8 Bones 8==8
My suggestion is for Apple to give the Tiger back, along with any other tigers they should happen to pick up along the way. A few hundred hungry tigers on TigerDirect's doorstep ought to send a strong message.
We've got a betting-pool on the lawyer being the first one eaten (or served, depending on how you look at it).
Three things: 1. Is Tiger the actual name of OS X 10.4, or is it just an internal codename that got popularized? Apple could just argue that their product is OS X 10.4 and not called "tiger" 2. Doesn't a company that hold a trademark HAVE to defend it or chance losing their trademark. This could simply be TigerDirect just preventing the loss of the trademark 3. TigerDirect has waited already even though Tiger has been announced for several months now. Would they already lose their trademark?
buy from new egg, directron, or CDW instead.
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Nice try assholes. Not only will I never buy anything from Shyster Direct, I will also recommend against it to everyone I know.
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/jumpto?f=doc&state=4fnj 9n.3.83
Nothing is inexplicable; only unexplained -Tom Baker, Doctor Who
Think different?
TigerDirect.com
7795 W Flagler St. Suite 35
Miami, FL. 33144
I'm not a lawyer, but I seem to remember reading that it is not possible to trademark common words. Tiger is certainly a common word, so doesn't that mean this case has no merit automatically?
-cwm9
Why don't we all drop Tiger Direct an Email?
Oh my! I think Tiger Direct has an unbeatable point with this lawsuit of theirs. Now that Tiger Direct has helped us to see the light, it is only fair that we change the name to Mac OS X Sosumi out of respect for Tiger Direct!
What a bunch of maroons.... http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTool s/search.asp?keywords=POWERMAC+G5%2F
Q: In comedy, what's the most important thi-
A: -Timing.
Or, if you prefer, wait until the dam is about to burst, then offer to sell everyone in the valley flood insurance at a rediculous fee.
iow, TigerSoftware hopes that Apple with throw money at them to make 'em go away so they won't interrupt the launch.
I don't care who you are, this is foul business, through and through. The Slashdot crowd is all too familiar with this cheap variety of moneymaking and practices like it should leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth.
"geek porn" - sounds like you've been wanking over electronics, now who's the fag ?
This wasn't brought about by lawyers. It was brought about by their marketing department.
They want a few things:
* free press
* press to link to their site to boost their google rank
If their legal team thought this was a good idea they would have done it months ago.
No real lawyer would recommend going through with this poor publicity stunt.
Tony the Tiger?
Exxon Tiger?
among others.
I think both of those have prior rights.
They're grrrrreeeaatt!!
I bought something that had a rebate, but it didn't come with the product. I called and they weren't able to give it to me for some reason, but promised to credit my account for the amount for any future purchase. So some months later, I place an order with my supposed credit, and *surprise* they have no record of any such thing. Scam artists.
Regarding the lawsuit, it does seem silly and greedy. Is there anyone who thinks Tiger (the OS) is produced by TigerDirect? I doubt it. With no confusion, I don't think they have a case.
Q: What does the "B." in Benoit B. Mandelbrot stand for? A: Benoit B. Mandelbrot
Check here:
t ate=ec8td3.1.1
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchstr&s
(sorry for the botched URL)
type in Tiger and look at all of the people who own "Tiger" for different products. The fact that they're both in the same industry has only mild significance. If TigerDirect sold software CALLED Tiger, then I would see the problem.
If you mod me down, I shall become less powerful than you could possibly imagine.
1) Good timing brings PR and traffic to their site
2) They don't sell ANY apple products, except the HP iPod, which, technically, is an HP product but not really...Microsoft conspiracy?
3) They wanted to protect their own brand, that's what trademarks are for people.
Ok,
This is one of the most ridiculous lawsuits ever. A Tiger is an animal and nobody shoudl be able to trademark the name of an animal.
This is BS. Tomorrow someone is gonna say that I can't use the word Tiger on my book on Tigers cause it is trademarked WTH
Whats next? Kangaroo, Giraffe, Bear, Lion, Monkey, Panda.... this is utter nonsence.
I think the US patent office is quite messed up in issuing patents, trademarks and copyrights.
mod parent up
If you ask me their argument is a load of crap.
Just look at how Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar effected Jaguar the car manufacturers in the google search results for "Jaguar"
Mac OS X is up there, but it's definitely not stealing clicks from Jaguar's business, and "Jaguar" is their ENTIRE name, unlike "TigerDirect," which, by the way, still comes up ahead of Apple when you google "Tiger" Also, OS X doesn't even come up at all when you google their actual name: "TigerDirect"
People need to relax.
Its 21:15 EST. I've just gone on their site and looked up Tiger as a keyword in their search. Sure enough, they are selling PowerMac G5 (notice the newest 2700 is on the list) which is shipping with OS X Tiger.
.... you're busted! If OS X Tiger is devaluating your trademark, then why are you selling it?
l s/search.asp?keywords=tiger&image1.x=0&image1.y=0
TigerDirect
Right here:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchToo
Click to view: POWERMAC G5/2000 DP 512MB-160GB SD ATI9600 TIGER!
YYT1-93030A
6.POWERMAC G5/2000 DP 512MB-160GB SD ATI9600 TIGER
Manufacturer: Tech Data
$2,112.99
Ships in 10 - 30 Days
Click to view: POWERMAC G5/2300 DP 512MB-250GB SD ATI9600 TIGER!
YYT1-93031A
7. POWERMAC G5/2300 DP 512MB-250GB SD ATI9600 TIGER
No information available at this time.
Manufacturer: Tech Data
$2,640.99
Ships in 10 - 30 Days
Click to view: POWERMAC G5/2700 DP 512MB-250GB SD ATI9650 TIGER!
YYT1-93032A
8.POWERMAC G5/2700 DP 512MB-250GB SD ATI9650 TIGER
No information available at this time.
Manufacturer: Tech Data
$3,168.99
Ships in 10 - 30 Days
Apple has trademarked tiger, you can see the listing Here. It wasn't registered before TigerDirect existed, but its a registered trademark, in a different category, that was accepted by the uspto.
I don't see how its that much of an open and shut case.
Now if apple re-branded the Apple Store as "Tiger Store" then I would see the problem. Or if a direct link to the Apple Store came up in a search for Tiger.
Why didn't Jaguar (ok, Ford) sue Apple for releasing an operating system using their trademarked name??
Search google for Jaguar and Apple is #3. The car, is #1 and #2.
Not sure why they don't just rename it "Liger". After all, "It's pretty much my favourite animal..."
'Thats they exact same thing a banana wrench monkey.'
Tony the Tiger (Kellog)
Put a Tiger in your tank (Exxon)
The Bengal Tigers (NFL)
I'm sure you can think of many more...
B.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
No wonder consumer hardware is a cut-throat business... TigerDirect may as well trademark lion, turtle, monkey, ass (donkey), chicken, pig, cow...etc name after their system configurations, in order to generate more revenue.
Telephone Support
Sales Inquiries / Product Information 800.800.8300
Customer Service and Support 800.800.8300
Educational Sales (M-F 8AM-8PM EST) 888.278.4437
Corporate Sales / Licensing (M-F 8AM-8PM EST) 888.278.4437
Reseller Hotline (M-F 8AM-8PM EST) 888.736.4672
International Callers 305.415.2201
Para Clientes en Español 888.222.9800
To Fax Us An Order 305.415.2202
People will get all up in a fit over nothing. How can you "own" the word "tiger?" It's getting to the point where you can't do much of anything without stepping much on peoples toes. I personally can tell the difference between a sotre and a piece of software. I think this is getting flat out stupid. Like how companies are trying to patent certain sections of the human genome. Which means if you want to work on a cure for cancer and part of where you need to go is owned by them, you need to get permission and the such to do work there. Now, the human genome is in everyone. and yet the patent office seems to hand out stuff like candy. So I really do hope a court just laughs at this. Because it's so... bloody stupid. And II don't see how they could receive damages from it. Aside from the search engine thing, but then again that's probably become a more relavant result.
http://www.6765656b.com it's the ~ for us geek's.
I mean, why not, right?
Give me a break, guys... This is the most ridiculous idea I have ever heard. The operating system is not called Tiger Direct; it's called Tiger. This is a codename for software; the other company is a retailer. Proof that NOBODY SHOULD EVER BUY ANYTHING FROM TIGER DIRECT.
Tiger Direct is a trash, garbage company. Tiger Direct is evil, vile, and wicked. Tiger Direct probably has an ethics policy that reads, "Screw over the supplier, customer, employee, shareholder, and everybody else as much as possible." Tiger Direct does bad business. Tiger Direct probably commits crimes behind everybody's backs. Tiger Direct. Where do you want to go today?
the very fact that a word can be copywritten to the point that even a reference to said word can be turned into a legal battle.
remember the old joke article (from the onion i believe) about microsoft copywriting ones and zeros? that seems to have some sort of merit these days.
imagine if, long ago, someone put a copywrite on the word "computer". if that happened many of us would now be using "electro-calculating-guified-giggy-boxes". of course that assumes Tandy at one point didn't copywrite "calculating" and the United States Pimp Union didn't copywrite the word "boxes".
remember shakespeare said long ago: the first thing we do, kill the lawyers (King Henry VI part 2 act IV scene 2).
nature loves variety::society hates it get your variety at http://www.monkeypantz.net
Customer Experience
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record
That's nice to know, but I don't think it's relevant. Being jerks does not deprive them of any rights, including rights to trademarks they own.
Uh oh, time to start preparing for future releases of OSX by grabbing trademarks named from the same species.
...is that TigerDirect can't afford the ad rates for "sponsored" links at Google et al any other way than by suing SOMEBODY....
Tiger, owned by Systemax Inc. (owners of TigerDirect.com) and first used in 1987, filed in 2000 and registered in 2002. Serial no. 75915934
and
Tiger, owned by Apple Computer Inc. Not yet registered, but filed in 2003 with publication for opposition in August 2004. Serial no. 78269988
While this seems the end for Apple's Tiger, a closer look reveals the important bits. Apple's Tiger has been filed for "computer operating system software", while Systemax's Tiger was registered for "Mail order catalog services featuring computers and computer related products; and Retail store services featuring computers and computer related products."
They are two very different uses for the trademark. I'm sure Apple's lawyers will pounce on this fact. TigerDirect does not have much of a chance of pulling this one off.
On top of this, waiting until the day before the product launch was not the best plan for TigerDirect. Apple's tradmark was published for opposition last year. Given all the publicity, TigerDirect's management would definately have known about this long before now. Any decent judge would see TigerDirect's real intentions in filing this late.
I suspect that TigerDirect's managment are hoping that Apple's lawyers are stupid and will settle immedaitely. If this is the case then I think TigerDirect's management are in for a rude awakening. Steve Jobs will fight this one.
If Apple were HQed in India, they could go ahead and launch Tiger or Tigger or whatever, get sued by WHO_THE_F&*K_EVER, appeal, counter-appeal and probably get the case thrown outta court in 2193 AD !!!
I bought several systems from TD and had only one problem... a monitor wouldn't work. After a 35min phone wait they did promise and send another monitor. One of those systems had a 300megahz processor w/Win95 and it is still running six years later. Perhaps their business practices have gone bad but, if they own the name, they own the name. They have every right to collect from Apple or force Apple to change the name. Actually, it was quite smart to wait until just before the launch...makes it impossible to change the name and forces monetary damages.
TigerDirect may be on shaky legal ground if they've not already raised questions about Apple's application. Apple's application for Tiger was filed on July 2, 2003, almost two years ago. And it was published for opposition on August 17, 2004, over 8 months ago. And there is someone's opposition: "An opposition is now pending at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board." An extension to file opposition came in on August 19, 2004, two days after it became open for opposition and was "instituted" (probably meaning filed) on December 15, 2004. Given the sluggishness of the opposition's response to such a simple issue, I suspect that TigerDirect is involved and their lawyers have been trying to drag things out in the hope of extracting cash out of a weak case. Delay is what lawyers who think their case won't do well in court do.
And why is the USPTO taking so long on this? Filed in July 2003, Apple should have had that trademark (or not) by the end of 2003.
My own take on this is that Apple Computer is so big and well-known, no one would confuse them with a third-rate mail order house. Apple has class, these folk don't.
Someone in the media might want to call Apple's lawyer at: 408-974-4240 He probably won't say much, be he might give us a few facts.
--Mike Perry, Untangling Tolkien
while java 1.5 (tiger) is conspicuously missing from mac os 10.4 (tiger), if the folks at tiger direct want to sue apple, shouldn't they have tried suing sun a while back before java 1.5 was released? isn't it just as equally a trademark infringment in that case?
Wrong. As has been mentioned upthread, there is the doctrine of laches, which prohibits exactly the kind of tactics you describe.
World Wrestling Federation -> WWF
World Wildlife Foundation -> WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment -> WWE
Anonymous Coward - AC
Looks like an acronym to me.
http://www.answers.com/acronym
http://www.answers.com/abbreviation
The GP has a point about the direct commonality of the cases, but the USPTO FAQ supports my uninformed suspicion that "common words" are legal trademarks.
As a final caveat, a search of USPTO did not turn up TigerDirect's registration of 'Tiger'. For that matter, TigerDirect's page mentions 'TigerDirect', but not 'Tiger'.
even microsoft fanboys ripped the screenshots apart...so microsoft turns to SCO kind of suing to cripple apple. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day...!!
"Also, last time I checked, a 'tiger' was some furry critter with claws and tooth."
You've just described my wife to a "T"
They all outranked Tiger Woods. He probably has more money than any of em. Maybe Apple and Tiger direct should get togather and go after the golfer
If they have an established trademark, Apple can't sue them. The timing is probably so they can get a quick settlement out of Apple. Apple isn't going to want their release delayed by the courts. So they'll be inclined to quickly settle and be done with it rather than scuttle their whole product launch.
I won't be buying anything from Tiger in the future, that's for sure.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
Look at the mess that Tiger Diect made when they came to Canada and took over Sidus Systems in Markham, On. Sidus Systems had enough trouble, as it was 75% of there work force were temps. Tiger Direct coming in just threw them over the edge.
... and doesn't that weaken TigerDirect's already weak case?
(%i1) factor(777353);
(%o1) 777353
Who really cares? Why are there so many articles dedicated to Macs and Apple here? When so few people run these systems?
umm... Apple annound Tiger, what, a year ago? where has TigerDirect been for the last year?
Word Mark
TIGER
Goods and Services
IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: computer operating system software
Mark Drawing Code
(1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number
78269988
Filing Date
July 2, 2003
Current Filing Basis
1B
Original Filing Basis
1B
Published for Opposition
August 17, 2004
Owner
(APPLICANT) Apple Computer, Inc. CORPORATION CALIFORNIA 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino CALIFORNIA 95014
Attorney of Record
John Donald
Type of Mark
TRADEMARK
Register
PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator
LIVE
--------------------
IANAL, but somehow I don't see how TigerDirect has a leg to stand on here....
Integrate Keynote and LaTeX
Yes Apple does own a Trademark on Tiger the "computer operating system software". Use the trademark link in the parent post and search for serial number 78269988.
Many people hold trademarks on tigers and apples. It's the context that is important. My guess is that someone owned the trademark to both Tiger and Apple way before Tiger Direct and Apple Computer were founded. However Apple's trademark is on a "computer operating system". Kellogg's probably has a trademark on the cartoon character. Neither can sue each other (and win), unless either Kellogg's starts making software, or Apple puts Tony the Tiger on their software box.
Now the software revolution may have knocked the Frosted Flakes fan sights out of the top spots, but that doesn't mean they have a case against Apple.
Confusing laws, they're grrrreat!
Even your title is flamebait. Grow up.
If TigerDirect had filed this suit six months ago, or even three months ago, I would have had some sympathy with them. But to do it the day before Apple releases OS X 10.4 smacks far too much of trying to strongarm Apple into settling to avoid the injunction. Blackmail is an ugly word, but in this case...
I used to buy from TigerDirect, and recommended them to clients. I will no longer be doing so. And I'll be writing to them telling them exactly why: a company which would file such an injunction this late in the day is not a company I wish to do business with.
and they lost the suit when apple hat MAC OS 9 because it was preceeded by MAC. Seems like the same would occur here its MAC OS TIGER (10.4)
OMG Ponies!!! with Glitter!!!! I miss Pink
..for numerous references to 'Celtic Tiger' economy in mid to late nineties.
The lawsuit DID NOT come on a gray brushed metal background. It DID NOT have a "clean, simple, efficient, and effective" layout. AWFUL!
The Peanut Gallery, Ubergeek, Biblically Sober
NCAAbbs.com: Thousands of fans, Hundreds of teams, Just one place
As far as I can tell, TigerDirect only have trademarks on "tigerdirect" and not on "tiger"
2694989 IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Mail order services featuring computer hardware and software. FIRST USE: 19930131. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19930131
2694988 IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Mail order services featuring computer hardware and software. FIRST USE: 19930131. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19930131
76329993 IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Mail order services featuring computer hardware and software. FIRST USE: 19930131. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19930131
Apple is attempting to register "tiger" but has opposition to the registration
serial# 78269988 IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: computer operating system software
Current Status: An opposition is now pending at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
-avi
They don't have shoddy customer support.
As far as I can determine, they don't have any customer support at all. Just a few people who will talk to you on the phone, promise to do something to help you, and then forget about you as soon as you hang up the phone.
-fred
Sign #11 of Slashdot overdose: You see the phrase 'moderate Republican' and you wonder if that would be a +1 or a -1.
google before posting. "Tiger software" exists and is owned, period. The Lindows case will probably be the precedent which is used to decide in Tiger's favor. You heard it here first.
I went to wwf.com. All I see was the domain parking page. What's World Wide Fund doing with the domain? Cybersquatting it?
The anachronism that is American's 18th Century Common Law legal system has proven itself inferior to the modern Civil Law systems in the rest of the world so many times just in the last years just in tech that it just isn't funny anymore. You do remember that SCO is still wasting IBM's time and money in a U.S. court, with no end in sight? You notice how the rest of the world got that crap out of their systems long ago?
Sadly for us Americans, there is no chance in hell for a serious, basic and fundamental legal reform. With a Congress filled full of lawyers, our sputtering system of codified greed won't even have to face the slight correction of a tort reform.
Why would anybody looking to buy computer stuff search on the word Tiger? Unless they already knew about Tigerdirect, it just wouldn't happen. Until now, of course. So now people who haven't heard of them might stumble on to them, where they would never have stumbled before. Seems to me like this should help their business, not hurt it.
If I had a computer business named, say, LonghornDirect, I sure wouldn't mind somebody coming out with an OS named Longhorn. Say, maybe I should register that.
That's one way to stop a injunction. Slashdot the sight.
It's Apple, they bring us pretty things in pale plastic boxes. Dont question Apple.
After all, their "Tiger" trademark covers the "Computer programs that plays games" domain, which appears to be an order of magnitude more relevant to OS X 10.4 than Tiger Direct's "Mail order catalog services featuring computers and computer-related products" trademark.
Something's wrong with the article. A search of the USPTO shows that Apple owns the trademark "TIGER". I'm not sure where it came from that TigerDirect owns it. Searching for marks that TigerDirect owns comes back with 2 records. Neither of which use the word Tiger.
Here's the record from the USPTO:
Word Mark TIGER
Goods and Services IC 009. US 021 023 026 036 038. G & S: computer operating system software
Mark Drawing Code (1) TYPED DRAWING
Serial Number 78269988
Filing Date July 2, 2003
Current Filing Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition August 17, 2004
Owner (APPLICANT) Apple Computer, Inc. CORPORATION CALIFORNIA 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino CALIFORNIA 95014
Attorney of Record John Donald
Type of Mark TRADEMARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
They've renamed products before because of conflicts like this.
My turbo pumps spin at about 25,000 RPM and they are made from Al. Of course if you spin them in air, they become toast - or rather bits of Al potato chips. These Turbo pumps (or turbomolecular pumps) are used to pull vacuum to about 10E-10 Atmosphere and sometimes lower. Look at www.varianinc.com in the pump area.... So a disk could spin at 25000 if you put in a good vacuum rough pump.
This message was brought to you by "Lack of Sleep."
Some may recall famous mac operating system that was named "carl Sagan" and then changed to "Butthead astronomer" when Sagan sued for his trademark name. Later it was changed to just "BHA".
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
I had no idea the Impala was an animal. Fascinating.
http://www.awf.org/wildlives/143
Good thing they didn't actually copy OS features, or UI designs from anybody! Then they'd be in real trouble!
i thought it was based off of bsd... and i'm pretty sure safari is based on the khtml engine.
"WTF anyways, the product is called Mac OS X v10.4 and Tiger is just the codename. What the heck would it have to do with selling software?"
Have you looked here recently. I think Tiger is more than a working name.
Vote for Pedro
Maybe yes, maybe no.
And if they anticipated it, they probably thought it would just give them extra publicity.
Slashdot anagrams to "Sad Sloth"
First off, how does it make sense to anyone whatsoever that common nouns like "tiger", "windows", etc. should be subject to copyright? It's absolute lunacy. If these companies exercised any cleverness in coming up with a unique name that wasn't already found in the language of manufacture, alright, I could see how copyrights should be allowed... but for existing nouns? There's no creativity to be found there.
Here's one, a custom AMD configuration with Windows XP and more...
And there's the fact that TigerDirect does sell iPod Minis and iPod Shuffles, so tying in the Tiger name with Apple's promo special is definitely galling to the higher-ups at Tiger Direct. I mean, after all, if they were simply XDirect(TM) or just Direct(TM) no one would know the name.
This sig donated to Pater. Long live
And those people expressed an 'honest opinion' that your comment was flamebait. Maybe if you had chosen to support your opinions with something other than pointless bile you might have actually had someone else agree with you.
No, but being slimy bastards who have time and again proven to use unethical and illegal business practices does make it more likely that that's what they're doing here. Given that I don't know the particulars of the case, nor the particulars of the law and precedent in cases such as this, I am quite likely to believe that they are just being complete asshats who want a piece of the action from Tiger, solely based upon what I know about the company.
If Apple were shipping Mac OS X 10.5 'Small Dog,' and Small Dog Electronics were suing them, I would give the matter much more consideration, because I know that Small Dog bends over backwards to be fair to its customers, that they've gotten several awards for how well they treat their employees, that they've gotten other awards for socially responsible business practices, and that they send out cute little plastic doggies with every order. They are a credible company; TigerDirect is not.
And, in fact, I would give the matter much more consideration if TigerJoe's Excellent Software Software, which I'd never heard of before, sued Apple. Because they haven't proven themselves totally unreliable and slimy.
So, in summation, you're wrong when you say that being jerks does not deprive them of any rights: it deprives them, in my mind, to the fred-given right of 'the benefit of the doubt.' Okay, so it's not a legal right, but I'd have to say that it's a pretty important one, taken en masse.
-fred
Sign #11 of Slashdot overdose: You see the phrase 'moderate Republican' and you wonder if that would be a +1 or a -1.
Mac OS X Tiger v10.4
or from the apple webstore
Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger"
note that 10.3 is really: Mac OS X Panther Version 10.3
At least that is what is on my box for Panther
This message was brought to you by "Lack of Sleep."
They are well known for paying money to companies for doing that *cough* sco *cough*
Here's the "contact us" link at Tiger Direct
IE just the internal codename that the development & managerial staff called OS 10.4.
AFAIK internal corporate product codenames arn't covered by such things as trademark law. Plus AFAIK there's no law saying one can't publically mention a product by it's internal codename either.
Google Googlegear anyone?
I actually got a good giggle out of this, because I think you honestly believe that titling a comment 'You fuckers' and calling everyone who disagrees with you 'brainwashed' is not flame-bait.
But okay, I'll bite... perhaps you're complaining about the moderation because you don't really know what 'flame-bait' means. Flame-bait doesn't necessarily mean that the person who is posting is wrong... it just means that their comment was posted in just a way as to invite flamage.
For example: if I posted that I thought that desktop Linux was really coming along, and that more people really ought to consider it as an alternative to Windows, I wouldn't be modded down as flamebait. If I posted that desktop Linux still had too many usability problems and that Windows was still better for end users, I wouldn't either. If I posted that I thought anyone who used Windows when Linux was available was a cretin who shouldn't be allowed to breed, I would almost certainly be modded down as flamebait (unless I said it in a fucking hilarious way), and the same goes for saying the same thing about people using desktop Linux.
So, in case you still can't see what you did, a helpful hint: calling people 'fuckers' because they believe different things than you, even if what they believe is so obviously wrong that you just can't imagine anyone actually believing it and it makes you nauseous to even consider the idea that anyone could believe it... well, that invites flames. And thus is flame-bait.
Dickhead.
-fred
PS: By the way, you're also wrong.
Sign #11 of Slashdot overdose: You see the phrase 'moderate Republican' and you wonder if that would be a +1 or a -1.
Liger your favorite animal? - here's the scary truth!!
the OS is called, MacOSX 10.4, not tiger. Tiger is the code name for the product and Apple can stop using it whenever they want, without harm to the product. IIRC they stop using the name after it's release anyway. I don't believe that they sell it as MacOSX Tiger, so the suit will only stop, what? references to an internal code name for a product, that has been used for a couple of years, big deal.
There was an unknown error in the submission.
Tiger is not the name of the OS, it's merely a designated title so one doesn't have to refer to the OS by its full & proper name: Mac OS X 10.4. I don't see how a reference to a wildcat infringes on anything belonging to TigetDirect. Now if it was actually named Tiger OS then I could understand.
It's ridiculous to say that just because Apple is using their name, the name of a hardware distributor, in it's software product that it is going to hurt them and that Apple needs to give up. If you google for the word "geek" you don't get ThinkGeek.com, but they're not suing geek.com or the likes. AFAIK nobody in newegg.com, www.egg-online.co.uk, www.egg-coddlers.com etc. etc.. aren't suing each other. That's because you can't dictate a word's usage (just like Google can't prevent people from using the word "google" as a verb) without inherent claim of ownership. The word "Tiger" so widely used that they can't rationally claim that nobody else can't even use it on a large scale because that is an indirect claim of ownership. The first thing I thought about this whole lawsuit was "They just want to make some quick money from the people in the lime light." I wouldn't be surprised if Apple cut them off from reselling iPods just like they cut off the Publisher of the forthcoming Steve Jobs biography.
To late I already have my copy
It said "windows 98 or better" so I installed Linux
I have purchased many things through TigerDirect.com over the years. I'm going to use NewEgg from now on for 2 reasons:
1. Your track record with other customers leads me to believe that I'll eventually get screwed by dealing with you.
2. Your suit against Apple for the use of Tiger is frivolous and silly. Tiger is the CODENAME of their product, and you cannot trademark the name of an animal to my knowledge. Plus, it's just one more example of an overly litigious corporate culture.
So, I won't be visiting your site anymore. That's it.
There is already a Tiger computer and it trademarked. This seems a lot closer than "Tiger Direct" and should have a case if anybody does. But since Apples is software, I think that is enough different from being part of a vendor's name and from being a hardware name that Apple should be able to name their product Tiger. http://www.wilke-technology.com/html/produkte_tige r.html
i remember LONG before we knew OS X 10.4 would be called Tiger there was a list of cat names Apple had registered or trademarked. it was assumed those couple of names would be the next few versions of OS X. i read it on a rumor site, but it was info they pulled from legit sources.
it could be argued that the actual name of the OS is
OS X 10.4
all the cat names are internal "code" names that get out and are popularized. For a counter example, do you really think that Microsoft is going to release under the name "Longhorn"? I doubt it.
it might be worth noting that while the Jaguar packaging emphasized the fur/spots pattern, none of the other OS X packaging has.
for that matter, 10.1 was called "Puma" and I don't recall the sneaker manufacturer suing...
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
Ford didn't sue over "Jaguar" either.
is there one for "Cheetah" (bad jokes aside)
(sorry for posting twice like this, I've had a bit of wine and hit the submit button too fast...)
-- it's ridiculous how many people misspell ridiculous... (damn, damn, damn...)
While the suit may have some merit, it is odd for them to wait until now to try and halt such a heralded product.
Yeah, it is quite strange that they would seek a settlement at the point when Apple would have the most incentive to end the matter as quickly as possible. Idiot.
Remember the whole OS9 issue? OS9 is an embedded OS, I don't have time to find more specifics, and they sued Apple over the release of OS9. The judge found that the markets were too different for the two products to be confused with one another. And as the above poster mentioned, we arn't even dealing with like products here, and I have a feeling Apple fields a better leagle team.
It is somewhat controversial.
According to many references, acronyms must be pronounceable (eg NATO, LASER), so WWF is only an abbreviation.
For example: http://www.alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxacrony .html
"Strictly, an acronym is a string of initial letters pronounceable as a word, such as "NATO". Abbreviations like "NBC" have been variously designated "alphabetisms" and "initialisms", although some people do call them acronyms. WDEU says, "Dictionaries, however, do not make this distinction [between acronyms and initialisms] because writers in general do not"; but two of the best known books on acronyms are titled Acronyms, Initialisms and Abbreviations Dictionary (19th ed., Gale, 1993) and Concise Dictionary of Acronyms and Initialisms (Facts on File, 1988).
http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?AcronymVsAbbreviation
Others disagree. For example: http://www.ucc.ie/cgi-bin/acronym
"There is no requirement that an acronym be pronounceable as a normal word (this is a curious myth perpetuated by American dictionaries): IBM is just as much an acronym as LASER."
"After their main warehouse was reduced to ash by a group of unknown men dressed as black ninja's, Tiger Direct's CEO has responded by filing suit against Kellogg Inc. for Tony the Tiger damaging their (Tiger Direct) image.
In a similar move, the Missouri Tigers have also filed suit against Tiger Direct Corp., claiming that their industry suckiness has reduced their basketball team to everlasting suckdom."
--Source unknown.
The Property of One's : "The Oneitude is directly proportional to the Colditude of the one." - S.B.
It's the only one!
While the suit may have some merit, it is odd for them to wait until now to try and halt such a heralded product.
TigerDirect is a seller of PCs, and as such has an interest in seeing Apple do worse. That's why they waited and sat quietly while Apple promoted Tiger for the past 12 months, only to threaten to sue and seek an injunction days before its release. That's grounds for a dismissal of their claim, IMO, because they knowingly let their "trademark" go undefended for that length of time prior to acting. It's not self-defense, it's acting with malicious intentions.
putfwd.com - 1GB Free file storage with a twist
It makes me a bit curious why TigerDirect doesn't clearly state that the term/name "Tiger" is trademarked on their legal notice page....
The average consumer is unlikely to confuse cereal, fuel, or football with whatever the Disney entertainment product is.
There are 1.1... kinds of people.
http://www.apple.com/legal/trademark/appletmlist.h tml
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
You do that, I'll copyright MrAnnoyanceToYou.
Then I will bury you with a tiny bulldozer.
The latest Slashdot meme.
"While the suit may have some merit, it is odd for them to wait until now to try and halt such a heralded product."
well, that is exactly what I was thinking.
Truth is, the judge is going to see this not as a case of defending trademarks, but as trying to gain as most money as possible. By waiting longer they can say that Apple has done more to misuse the trademark.
This case is getting thrown out the fucking window and is a waste of taxpayers' fucking money.
[Tiger Direct] has used its family of Tiger trademarks to sell computers and computer related products since 1987
They've only been going under Tiger Direct for a few years. They used to be known as Misco.
Hey everyone, put a link on your site with the key word "Butt-Head Vendor" directed to tiger Direct. Let's see if we can get the top page rank on Google for Butt-Head Vendor to be tiger direct.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
This guy is cut-n-pasting again. I think he should ask himself how do you know if you are an anti-GNU/Linux zealot.
Apple should've done what the free software people have done for years, i.e. name the releases with names even the authors have no fecking idea what they mean.
1 Earth is warming, 2 It's us, 3 it's royally bad, 4 we need to take action NOW
Ah, the irony.
"Asparagus" is what we now (mainly since the end of World War II) call "sparrow grass": apparently, sparrow grass just wasn't as trendy a name, so it got dropped.
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
Great idea. It sure worked well for Lindows!
Most likely they do not own this. The Lindowes suit brought by MS and later "settled" by MS paying Lindows $20M made this fairly clear. The court ruled that the suit would not be as of the understanding of the word Windows today but at the time they adopted this for Microsoft Windows.
They would most likely have lost and once they understood this they Settled a suit they filed themselves.
Help fight continental drift.
This is amazing and the follow up stories to the parent post pretty much told how horrible this company is (and probably a borderline scam, IMHO, but the again, IANAL). So how come BBB does not step in? Did any of you complain to BBB? The more people complain (legitimately) about a company's horrid practices, the more likely BBB steps in and helps people resolve their cases against the company.
Apple fans/zealots are some of the most zealous and outspoken of them all, and TigerDirect just went and pissed all over them.
Bad, bad business decision, to say the least.
could it be that tigerdirect sees a major relase on a platform that they compete against as a threat to their business. as far as i know they sell x86 hardwaare and other pc components. Kevin
And the verdict:
"Get a life."
"it is odd for them to wait until now to try and halt such a heralded product"
No it's not, it's called Gold Digging...
Bitter and twisted, DON'T ever FORGET the TWISTED
Prior to it's IPO in 2000 StorageNetworks was sued by EMC b/c of StorageNetworks' tagline:
The Enterprise Storage Service Provider.
EMC's tagline was:
The Enterprise Storage Provider.
Storagenetworks IPO'd at $93/share and 2.5yrs later was run into the ground by its management.
On the tigerdirect site ( what an awful site btw ). .
gets me these
1. the TIGER TV mousepad.... okee, there toast.
2. IE tiger woods game.... burn the witch
3. and a AMD system called systemax tiger.. kill
So liardirect can blow me and get the fuck off my news pages.
From a legal standpoint it *is* odd that TigerDirect waited for so long to file this, and that is likely something that the judge will inquire about.
From a cheap-bastard standpoint it is clear why they waited so long, but that won't help them win this case.
Oh, I can't help quoting you because everything that you said rings true
Those Ligers sure are huge! .. mayhap Apple is saving the name for later?
Yes and we all know how the BSD and KHTML hate it when other people use their code. Oh, wait.
I think, therefore I am. I think?
1) Apple only announced the April 29th launch date publicly on April 12, 2005. That's critical in asking "Why only now?" -- there was nothing imminent prior to that.
The ship date is irrelevant. The name for this release has been used by Apple for almost a year now, so pretending that TigerDirect has only had a few weeks to respond is nonsense.
Apple won the Tiger trademark by agreeing to limit its use to computer operating software.
Then what's the problem? There is just one Apple product with the name Tiger: an operating system.
Tiger makes a good case that Apple is using the Tiger mark more broadly that it is entitled, to venture into other sales areas than just operating systems
And they're doing this how, exactly? They're selling almost exactly the same accessories in the Apple Store today as they were on April 11th. They sold accessories last year, and the year before that, and the year before that. They're advertizing to get you to go to the Apple Store to buy Tiger, not to go to some Tiger website and buy Apple products.
If I were in TigerDirect's shoes, I'd similarly be upset.
And if you were in Tiger's shoes, would have you have waited oportunistically until the day before launch to file your suit?
No, it's pure logic. By now, Apple cannot change the name or do anything to avoid it. They'll have to fight it (which takes time and might hinder sales of MacOS X Tiger) or settle.
Clever tactics on TigerDirect, but a truly horrible way of acting. I hope they (as in TIgerDirect) looses the case since they have seen it coming and have had time to act.
should Apple get a trademark on "Tiger"?
I don't think so. It's a codename.
Count me in! --- Tiger Woods.
My other post is a First.
I will second this--although it was several years ago. I had purchased a motherboard from them which worked for about a day and then failed. So I called to get it sent back in. No problem. Except they never *NEVER* sent me a replacement or a refund or anything. I was completely left hanging. The worst part is, I had bought the motherboard for someone else--so I had to replace it out of my own pocket. This was back in high school when losing the cost of a motherboard was next to bankruptcy. Bastards. I hope they are burned for this idiotic blatant money-grubbing tactic.
Hexy - a strategy game for iPhone/iPod Touch
This sounds similar to the lawsuits between Apple Computers and Apple Records....
Tiger is a generic name, you can't hold a trademark on it!
did someone mention it already?
the Singapore beer brand is named Tiger as well.
I thought "Tiger" was the code name for 10.4.x of OS X -- i.e., that's not its officialy name. Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about... after all, coming from the PC world I hear random crap like Memphis, Avalon, Sid, and Longoverdue as code names, not officialy product names. I guess this is more akin to Warty Warthog? Even then, though, would that be an "official" name of an Ubuntu distribution -- one that they could be sued over?
Boycott Sony
There has been no word as of yet from Woods however.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
Porsche should sue Tiger Direct, after all Porsche did make Tigers around 1944.
This could be a redundant post, but I can't be bothered to check. I imagine Apple would like to delay the release of Tiger as little as possible and so maybe Tiger figures Apple will be more likely to settle quickly giving them a fat payday.
"Microsoft Tigger - No more crashes" -- It does sound precisely like the Windows Installer, doesn't it?
Tiger Direct sells pre-press digital imaging equipment. Their equipment is sub par and the only people who buy it are newbies who don't know any better (my opinion). They are a fiercly marketed company, though. Once on their mailing list the onslaught is relentless, along with high pressure phone calls and the like. I put them one notch above a boiler room company.
I'm certain they are doing this for the publicity value. Otherwise they wouldn't have waited until now. It's right up their ally to pull something like this.
Hi! I would like to know where the image of legal news (the one that says "The Courts") comes from and if there is a bigger version of it.
Thanks.
True. To question Apple is to question Steve Jobs, and no one must question Steve Jobs. No one.
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
You do not know Steve Jobs. He will never settle. It would be a bad legal precedent! What about the next version, Cheetah, or whatever it is called? He is used to fighting with
MICRO$OFT! Tiger Direct is a joke compared to MICRO$OFT!
"Put a Tiger in your Tank" was a Muddy Waters song, so his estate too.
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
STFU, Limey.
Back on-topic, in other news, online retailer Tiger Direct has just announced a partnership with Microsoft and SCO.
Excellent, I'll use this argument to start selling "doodlelogic Windows"...
The whole point of a Trademark is for brand recognition. That is why companies are supposed to use unique words as trademarks. Common words cannot be considered for trademark. The Windows trademark case already set this precidence when Microsoft was sued by Apple over the use of the word Window. TigerDirect is their trademark NOT Tiger. They are claiming trademark on a common word. Of course, that is one the lawyers will have to wrangle through.
B.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
Tiger Beer is the only Tiger I'll interface Directly with!
They going to sue over this too? ... All the fobs here should know what this is.
http://www.ibiblio.org/kelly/tbalm/
All of a sudden all companies with Tiger in any of their brands, products, et cetera, are sued by the species Tiger (Panthera tigris) for infringement on their name. (Hope no one else has stated this)
I think some of these trademark and patent lawsuits are getting a little out of hand.
I once bought something from Tigersdirect.com. It was a disaster. I didn't know if they were crooked or incompetent. Now I know.
To quote one of my favorite bands "old Billy was right, let's kill all the lawyers, kill'em Tonight."
Meddle thou not in the affairs of Dragons, for thou art crunchy and with most anything.
The purpose of a trademark is to uniquely identify a product (line) or company. You _will_ lose your trademark if you let it be used for anything else, and no longer associated with your product or company.
E.g., "aspirin" was once a trademark, but it was lost because it became a generic name for _any_ medicine containing that substance.
E.g., if "Nescafe" were to become a generic term that everyone uses, Nestle would lose that trademark.
Trademarks are the kind of beast that's easy to lose. You _have_ to defend it or lose it. If you knew someone is infringing upon your copyright and didn't sue, congrats, you've officially lost the trademark.
So TigerDirect's problem isn't Google page rank as such, it's that your average people searching for "Tiger" increasingly means the OS, rather than TigerDirect's trademark. I.e., that trademark is well enough under way towards the point where it's lost.
And TigerDirect's _only_ way to keep it is to sue.
It doesn't necessarily mean they have to win, though. If a judge decides some form of "no, mate. See, one is an OS and the other is a company, so there's no confusion possible", that's OK too. They then have an official permission to not defend it in that segment.
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Apple is using it's Tiger mark to sell things (via its retail stores) other than OSes, such as iPods and Powerbooks (via promotions and general PR). That turns Apple's use of "Tiger" into one that is for retail services, and directly competes against TigerDirect, who also sells those products.
That's the legal hook for TD. They still need to show likelihood of confusion, however, which I think is tough.
Neither company owns TIGER.com.
Usually trademarks on common names like TIGER
or APPLE or ORANGE for example are not very
easy to get. If TigerDirect went as far as
purchasing TIGER.com and trying to promote
their business through it and thus be "known"
as TIGER - they would have a case.
However they NEVER promote anything as just
TIGER. It is always TIGER with another word.
So there is no case. They can not win.
If I was Apple and I won that suit - I'd counter
sue TigerDirect for undermining Apple's business
from the suit 1 day to release when most people
knew about the name for a long time.
The saying, 'We are an overly litigous society' comes to mind. I mean really, what damages? Suddenly consumers are confused and ordering Tiger OS on accident when they meant to call Tiger Direct. And why wait until the day before release? Had they contacted Apple Legal months ago when the name was released? This is BS and will guarantee that I never buy from them, ever.
God is suing Apple, Tiger Direct and the whole world as he had the idea first. News at 11.
i can attest to the incredible crapitude of their customer service and products. i bought two identical laptops from them a year ago. just getting them at all was an ordeal, which was partly my fault because my credit card company rejected the order suspecting fraud, but their customer service wasn't very helpful. it seemed that the people wanted to help me, but their systems weren't set up to actually give them the information to do so. i complained to a manager about this, for informational purposes only -- not seeking any further action -- and he blew me off with excuses.
anyway, when the laptops finally showed up, they weren't right. one only had half the RAM they were supposed to, and the other was missing something else i forget. both had a CPU clock speed slower than advertised. in order to get this rectified i had to contact some third party company, who to their credit did get me squared away (except for the CPU speed, which i didn't really care about). but in addition, tigerdirect sent me a product i had never even ordered, and charged me for it. i got an RMA to return this and another item that i realized i didn't need, and they only ever credited me for one RMA. i was just tired of dealing with them so i didn't pursue it.
now, a year later, i have one laptop battery that's completely dead, and one hard drive that sporadically seizes up when it's hot. i still have a little time left on the one-year warrantee i got. i wonder if it's really worth my time to try to get service, in light of this thread.
-- Moderation in all things, exceptions to all rules --
How dare anything dare bear any resemblence to anything sounding like our name.
TRADEMARK infringement!!!
I can see what this is going to lead to... Trademarking the dictionary. Not just the name but the contents. The dictionary companies will then be holding a honkin' great lawsuit.
And stifling ALL free speech because the act of writing the complaint would violate their trademark.
MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
The author of this comment suggests "Why sue a company on the day their flagship OS product is released?"
It makes perfect sense if you're driven by greed..to try and make some quick $$.
Sue the day before the release, see if the company will settle quickly..
I don't think it's odd at all.
Bill Gates: Hey, tiger guy, how about I give you, like, a jillion dollars to file copywrite suite against Apple the day before their launch?
Tiger Guy: umm . . . ok.
Will they be going after Giant Tiger next?!
I get Frosted Flakes should drop Tony next... This is getting ridiculous.... Have they been planning this since Puma? And, why not go after the sneaker comany?
Put a Tiger in your Tank was a slogan for Exxo. The gas company that was the fore-runner to Exxon. So count Exxon-Mobile in too. (As if they haven't made enough profits!!)
And it worked pretty darned well, except for the hourly rebootings and lockups....
Sometimes seventeen/Syllables aren't enough to/Express a complete
You can't own something as generic as "Tiger"?
:/
They own something as generic as "Apple" and they sue plenty over that name. Gimme a break. Better yet, mod me down again for trolling cause I descent from popular thought.
Cleaning the net one sed at a time! s/sex/sermons/; s/hot/holy/; s/goats/thebible/; www.holysermonswiththebible.com
In the 80's I worked at Cado Systems Corporation on the "Tiger" computer.
I believe a few of them are still in service today.
Need Mercedes parts ?
Looks good on Mr. Jobs.
:-)
Maybe he won't be so quick to sue the living shit out of his shrinking fanboys club for trying to generate more hype and buzz for Apple beyond that stupid MP3 player!
Once the iPOD sales start to shrink... Mr. Jobs is going to wish he didn't stuff his best supports for the sake of an early headline or keynote announcement.
It's NO wonder Apple has not grow beyond the chic little boutique computer maker that Jobs runs like some cult of originality rather then a business.
Guess that explains why I can't buy the Apple OS on TigerDirect eh!
Release the fanboys... I'm outa here! © webzombie
Maybe they belatedly realized that Apple might try to sue *them* for using the Tiger name, so they're launching this suit in self defense.
-Rich
Google for tiger software. Tiger Direct is #1.
Religion is the opium of the people. Evolution is the opium of scientists.
I just got my Fedex box this morning with my copy of Mac OS X "Tiger". Tiger Direct can sue all they want now...I'm NOT going to give it up.
Danny
Tigers are natives of India.. and since Tigerdirect who has absolutely nothing to do with Tigers are suing apple.. maybe I as an Indian will sue both Tigerdirect and Apple..
On another thought since I have a wallpaper of tiger on my desktop, maybe they will sue me...
They way you talk I am astounded that you can spell so well. Usually folks who go off on such a wild tangent abuse the english language so badly that their comments are virtually unreadable. I commend you on you use of the language. Even though you are wrong.
Wow, right you are, Apple is using the name "Tiger" without any obvious identification with their Mac OS X trademarks. I would not have expected that. But then again, I did't expect Sun to license JAVA to Microsoft, nor Napster to be pushing the sharing of copyrighted songs. Thanks for pointing this out.
This case is not as obvious a blunder as the previous examples IMO. After all, the term "Tiger" is a very generic term. Maybe Apple is as smart as they seem to be and they did their homework on this, and TigerDirect hasn't a paw to stand on.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
But the reason MS can't trademark just "windows" is that the word means something in the realm of GUI development (i.e. we have been calling the little boxes on the screens "windows" for longer than MS had a product called "Windows"). The word "tiger" doesn't mean a single thing in the realm of IT. So Apple can't really sell something called "Tiger" any more than I can write a program to calculate gravitational forces and call it "Apple" (after Newton's fabled apple).
Tiger is a generic name., If anyone can recall the lawsuit from windows on lindows, it was lost in the US. The case was won in Europe however.
Tiger Direct has had a bad reputation on Usenet for many years.
"Put a Tiger in your Tank was a slogan for Exxo"
It is Esso not Exxo...
B.
This is a sig. This is only a sig. Had this been an actual sig you would have been informed where to tune for more sigs.
More documents and analysis on the TigerDirect v. Apple lawsuit are available here.
trademark an animal's common name? Nobody from Ford was upset when they used Jaguar...
antipaucity
Anybody here a Downliner's Sect fan?
The first Sect album from '64 has a cut that's riffed off of this - "I Wanna Put A Tiger In Your Tank".
It takes the double entendre as far as you could go as a white lad from Twickenham...
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
it's still copying.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
I am coming late into this discussion, but one thing I noticed is that I saw TigerDirect's banner ad on Slashdot several times.
Never saw it before here.
They say any publicity is good publicity.
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
LHGLAGLHLAGLL
there should be a slashdot hall of fame for posts like this.
-- Moderation in all things, exceptions to all rules --
USPTO does not have any listings for the word "Tiger", registered under the name of these freaks: http://tinyurl.com/clpmw - all they have is "Tiger Direct", that's all. No "Tiger". That means they can go and pound sand. I hope Apple will sue them back.
Holy crap, two flamebait posts in one day. Keep going, I think there's a record to be set for how quickly someone's karma dropped to reach -1 on all new posts.
Someday you'll move out of your parent's basement and enter the real world. Until then, you may find the actions of other people incomprehensible - it's normal, after all, since you're living in your parent's basement. When that day comes, though, when you get off your fat, fat ass and become a productive member of society, you'll suddenly discover that other people's opinions actually make sense.
Until that day, though, you need to remember 12 words: No matter how many times you pull, it won't get any bigger.
Damn. Good call.