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Fujitsu Readies Lawsuit Over "iPad" Name
gyrogeerloose writes "In an event eerily reminiscent of Cisco's suit over Apple's use of the 'iPhone' name, Japanese firm Fujitsu is consulting its attorneys in preparation for going to court over Apple's use of 'iPad' for its latest computing device. Quoted in a New York Times story, Masahiro Yamane, director of Fujitsu's public relations division, said 'It's our understanding that the name is ours.' Fujitsu's application to trademark the iPad name stalled because of an earlier filing by another company and the US Patent and Trademark Office listed Fujitsu's application as abandoned in early 2009, but the company revived its application in June. Apple, which has applied for an international trademark on 'iPad' through a proxy company, has filed a number of requests with the US Patent Office for more time to oppose Fujitsu's application."
There's nothing eerie about this situation. Can't people say "reminiscent" without prefacing it?
and spin this as a terrible loss, which will unfortunately cause them to come up with a better name.
"There are no facts, only interpretations." --Friedrich Nietzsche.
> Japanese firm Fujitsu is consulting its attorneys in preparation for going to court over Apple's use of 'iPad'
How about change it to iWhale instead? :)
I'd advise Fujitsu to drop it altogether. Given all the jokes going around about Maxi-iPads I'm still trying to get my head around the fact that these marketing dweeds thought that it was a good name. When the presentation was made wasn't there at least one snarky employee in the back snickering?
earlier filing by another company
So what we have is ACME Inc that isnt even named files a trademark on "iPad" knowing full well that Apple prefixes all their products with an i. They do this on the off chance that Apple ever comes out with an "iPad" and they would be able to sue for big bucks. Fujitsu realizes the same thing and tries to put their own trademark on "iPad", but is blocked because someone else already owns it. Now Apple announces a real iPad and Fujitsu is pissed because they don't really own the trademark yet but want sue someone, and ACME Inc hasn't said anything about the trademark that they already own.
gotta love patent/trademark squatters.
Moses didn't go to Sunday School either, he kept Sabbath. Sunday Heretics hmmmph
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
I think Fujitsu sees a way to make a little scratch and stick it to Apple, as lord knows the name is awful... Just awful...
On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
I take it you're not married.
Why is iPad worse than Thinkpad? Or notepad.exe. Grow up people, pad is a perfectly fine and useful English word.
Making fun of it involves telling people about it.
The number of people who wouldn't buy one because of the name is vanishingly small.
So benefits far outweigh costs.
Let them have it. Seriously. You don't want to be remembered forever for the creation of the most annoying feminine hygiene meme in the universe.
Yes, no one could ever come up with jokes for that name. Especially not if something related to the product is delayed.
When someone says, "Any fool can see
Bullshit! MagTek has an IPAD product, and has filed the trademark in 2000 which was later granted and then extended several times. Even Fujitus was and is after the name for their product much longer than Apple.
knowing full well that Apple prefixes all their products with an i
Apple doesn't own "iX" and it shouldn't get any special treatment. If it wants a trademark then should apply for it like everyone else. In this case it's late to the game, in fact too late.
even better iDontCare
Another great reason not to use twitter!
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Pity the cows and chickens.
Supercow AL RESCATE!
Bow-ties are cool.
From Wired
The number of people who wouldn't buy one because of the name is vanishingly small.
If the product is good, that number will be zero. If the product is no good and fails, pundits will write for years about how the name killed it. Such is historical revisionism.
There's nothing 'un-fine' or 'un-useful' about the word, but around these parts a 'pad' is a usually a feminine hygiene product.
Where the hell are "these parts"? The first thing I think of when someone says "pad" is a pad of paper.
"If you paid attention to the Twitter feed when the iPad was announced, the jokes were coming from a lot of hot and bothered women. This is one area where they let their hair down and get nasty."
Ok, I understand this is Slashdot, and all, but this comment is just so pathetic. For me, this comment is a perfect example of the power of marketing and how even supposedly "tech savvy and thus obviously intelligent" people fall for the lamest marketing.
I don't "pay attention to the twitter feed" because I quickly realized it is the ultimate rumor mill, NOTHING more. The Marketeers planned it that way folks. It is a marketing rail that some people actually CAN use for other purposes, but realistically use for...well, gossiping.
As for the devices they are "gossiping" about, the changes from one generation of device to the next, even across developers, is so minutely incremental that only those with disposable cash can afford to keep up with "the latest" (which is all they are really doing. The latest "incarnation" is rarely anything that novel or different). The features are of limited value to begin with. Really, how many fucking ways do you need to communicate with someone? Do you really need access to the web when you leave the house? Can't you get through a few hours without consulting an electronic device for insight?
The Marketeers have finally figured out how to milk the "Tech Savvy and thus obviously intelligent" crowd...and let the tech savvy still think they are making informed, intelligent decisions about the technology we humans really need. The iPad ain't it, folks.
Think about it. This is what amounts to a highly over-priced Netbook with a phone jammed in it. Net result? Your COMPUTER is now locked to service contracts.
It all reeks of the old "getting one up on the Joneses" meme that, in the past, primarily inflicted the insecure-but-somehow-rich, yet now pervades the tech geeks as well.
*prepares to be carpet-bombed*
I'm in California. The first thing I thought of was "Wow, it sounds just like iPod", the second thing I thought was that it reminded me of a pad of paper. Someone would have to say "maxi pad" or "sanitary napkin" before I thought of the feminine hygiene product first.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
So I take it you're not going to buy the (Product) RED special edition iPad?
It'll only be available for purchase during the gibbous moon.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
People still watch SNL after the age of 16? Wow ...
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...and this is why slash dotters don't have girlfriends.
Bullshit! MagTek has an IPAD product
Now look closer. The MagTek device in your link is a point-of-sale card swipe terminal, presumably sold mainly to the retail industry.
Now look at TFA. The Fujitsu iPad is a point-of-sale card-swipe terminal sold mainly to the retail industry.
The Apple iPad, meanwhile, is a consumer appliance, conspicuously lacking a card-swipe device and is not primarily targeted at the point-of-sale market.
Or, in other words, MagTek have Fujitsu banged to rights for infringing their trademark, whereas Apple have a strong argument that they're not operating in the same market.
In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
The "i" is a lot more trivial and insignificant than "Think" or "Note" - not to mention that notepad is a pre-existing word, so people are less likely to think of the association.
"For the web comic artists, being able to present their archives or create a 24-page comic in near full-sized and color is absolutely amazing."
So Apple gets to sell you a home computer AND a netbook (with a phone you say you don't need) all so you can do what you can do on the home computer...well, anywhere?
Looking at the specs on the iPad (and knowing what kind of hardware you need to do any REAL graphics processing...20 layers of Photoshop is going to lock up solid on an iPad), I'm guessing you're going to be doing most of it on the home machine anyways.
So, you essentially bought Apple's sales pitch hook, line and sinker.