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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.
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 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.
From the article... Fujitsu, which applied for an iPad trademark in 2003
Intel also used to try to keep the lower case i as their own trademark (as is i386, i486, etc.) before Apple launched the iPod.
Apple doesn't own the legal or moral rights to the lower case i prefix, they weren't even the first to use it.
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.
Another great reason not to use twitter!
http://michaelsmith.id.au
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.
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.
...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.