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."
You know, I am sure they will claim that the play is on the "iPod" name. However, I think that they are really going for the iPADD name (PADD as in Personal Access Data Display from Star Trek http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/PADD). They can't make it too obvious I guess because Paramount would sue them. But when I see a slate form factor machine like this I immediately think PADD.