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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."
Ipad as a name is about as bad as it can get for apple, due to all the jokes and the SNL skit. Is itablet also trademarked?
There's nothing eerie about this situation. Can't people say "reminiscent" without prefacing it?
I hate to let you two know, but... well, that name is terrible. Then again iPod and Walkman didn't exactly sound great when they first came out either. WAIT! Maybe that is the secret of good marketing! A terrible name. Quickly to the iInventadrome!
?
it will always be the device that shall not be named in my book
Apple should call it "MacsiPad" instead to both avoid a lawsuit and appeal to female consumers.
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.
As in stone tablets for all you FSM heretics that never went to Sunday school. However, even with a young earth, it should have entered the public domain by now.
Sorry about the mess.
> 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?
I don't think I'm manly enough to appear in public with the iPad for Women. In fact, I might sue Apple for reminding me of my childhood trauma of being dragged into that particular aisle of the grocery store by my mother.
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.
Am I the only person who sees this as an excellent opportunity for Apple to ditch the unfortunate moniker and go with something like iSlate? I mean, they can even deliver a bunch of moralizing over the thing. And yes, it'll cost them - but it's going to cost them to keep the iPad too - people are making more fun of the name then they are paying attention to the shiny lights of the product.
"Change your tablet's name. Not that big of a deal. Michiyoshi Mazuka Sent from some sending device."
How many times has dad told you that you mustn't drink and post on slashdot...?
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.
Apple should just drop the iPad, start doing some mad R&D, and come up with a product people actually want with a respectable name like iSlate or iTablet.
Sent from my iPhone 5
I'm pretty sure that name is available.
Remember to maintain your supply of
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.
How about they just label all of their products iCandy?
... iThink500DollarsIsFarTooExpensiveForSomethingSoLockedDown.
Or are we using that one for Apple's mobile telephone thingy?
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Pity the cows and chickens.
Supercow AL RESCATE!
Bow-ties are cool.
From Wired
Fujitsu? Heck, I'm still waiting for the lawsuit from Paramount/CBS.
It's interesting that in the Canadian Apple Stores, the sales assistants use the Fujitsu iPad http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com/downloads/retail/DS_IPAD.pdf if you wish to pay by credit card and have your receipt e-mailed to you (you don't need to line up at a cashier)
iScry
iPon
iBigger
iViddy
iDiddy
iWantOne
iCantBelieveItsNotActuallyUsefulForAnything
iDroppedItLikeTwoDaysAfterIBoughtIt
iThinkItLooksGreatOnMyCoffeeTable
iBoughtANewCoffeeTableJustForIt
Trademarks conflicts are nothing new to Apple Inc. They and the Beatle music company Apple Corp fought over the Apple name and business model since 1978. Apple Computer was supposed to stick to computers and Apple Corp to music, but the lines were blurred several times.
The digital tampon:
Shh.. iTampon is the name for the next pocket sized version.. And the full newspaper sized one is the Max..
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.
I thought the iTampon was the name of the coming wearable computer.
You can always tell a company's relevance by the lawsuits they file.
There's this one.
Microsoft vs TomTom over FAT
Apple vs Microsoft over the use of a GUI. Not their finest moment, foretold years of problems for Apple.
I could go on, but slashdot readers know the score.
Only the dead have seen the end of War. - Plato
Those ARE inches!!!
There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Hmm. After seeing what a joke everyone thinks the name is - they might just "settle" with Fujitsu and change the name... Hmm... I know relabeling the units (if they're finished) would cost some cash - but might get them out of this PR nightmare. Nobody likes the name.
With the right application, Apple's iPad may be able to compete in the same marketspace as Fujitsu's iPad. Even though the exact feature set is different, the potential customer base may overlap. As such, Fujitsu's claim seems to have some validity to it.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
I still think Big Ass iPod Touch is the name to use.
Fighting that application as an encroachment on the IP of the function of the other device would be a less frivolous lawsuit. I could make such an app for my Droid, too, or on a PC...oh, wait...they already exist...POS integrated with a handheld has been done. Even the Fujitsu app/device isn't unique.
Because one thing has the same name as another thing is not a good reason to do make lawsuits.
There are an awful lot of iPads out there other than the one from Apple. Fujitsu is considering trying to get something for nothing.
(http://www.google.com/search?q=ipad+-apple)
Just with "ipad" in the URL:
http://ipad.primate.wisc.edu/
http://www.ipad.com/
http://www.ipad.net.nz/
http://www.ipadowners.org/
I hope Fujitsu realizes how dumb it'd be to sue and proves to not be stoopid.
End the FUD
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.
I thought the iTampon was the name of the coming wearable computer.
No.. That would be the SUPPOSiTORY
It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.
This is paraphrasing what Steve Jobs said to a developer that Apple's lawyers didn't like.
Yup. Going to be long and ugly.
Basically it comes down to the usual fun, bribery, and court battles.
An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
Maybe it'll get them to pick a name that doesn't suck as much shit.
That's odd... I thought the implication was that it sucked *blood*.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Apple also needs a better name for their iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad operating system, since "iPhone / iPod Touch / iPad operating system" is too cumbersome. I suggest that they name it Apple iOS. =)
apple would never infringe on someone else's patent
Seriously? Has no one out here heard/felt the iGasm yet? More or less the same thing. Gotta love rebranding an old idea. http://ownedirl.com/misc/iGasm.jpg
No it will be called the iPax. because it brings world peace.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
other options:
iPun
iPal
iPap
iPro
iPig
iPox
iPup
iPet
iDea latin for a female IDeity
iOta
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Nevertheless, trademark law does not require a trademark to be registered in order for it to be considered a company's exclusive right - it can be demonstrated through use, such as in this instance selling a device by that name. While yes, it was considered abandoned, Fujitsu reasserted their rights over the name and as such Apple could have taken reasonable measures to avoid clashing with it, if they wanted to - clearly though, they're willing to fight for it.
Man who leaps off cliff jumps to conclusion.
may be iSuck is the next product name
iPaid, iPedo, iPiss, iPoor, iPuke, iScab, iShit, iSlug, iSpit, iSuck, ...
I can't believe you missed iPood ... there's even a T-Shirt!
I find myself agreeing with you and the post you were replying to. Personally, I don't use twitter, in fact I haven't had a mobile phone for the last 5yrs by choice and I have never been interested in having a personal web page. Not having a mobile phone tends to piss other people off much more than it inconviences me. I enjoy walking out the front door and being "offline", possibly because I'm an old fart and that's just the way the world was up until I was in my 30's.
I'm a software engineer with a CS degree and a head full of geeky science trivia. My adult kids think I'm a bit of a paradox, a tech-savy luddite one might say.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
WAIT! Maybe that is the secret of good marketing! A terrible name.
Nintendo concurs.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
If you'd read the story, you'd see there is a Fujitsu iPad, so sounds like they've got a chance.
So Fujitsu tries to get the name, can't, then develops a product for it anyway - and you think that's better?
After Apple wins the name they can force Fujitsu to change the product name, recall all existing inventory, and then possibly pay damages... sounds like a big mistake to me.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
http://www.currentdirections.com/hardware/fujitsu/ipad100.html ...What were you saying?
[note that I didn't find that link myself, someone else had already posted it several comments up from yours]
What could be wrong with THAT?
-- "At Microsoft, quality is job 1.1" -- PC Magazine, Nov. 1994
I have to wonder why a company like Apple has to apply for trademark protection, hiding behind a proxy? Smells fishy....
[quote]Because one thing has the same name as another thing is not a good reason to do make lawsuits.[/quote]
Actually it does, if it's a competing device and a trademarked name.
Imagine creating a dark-brownish softdrink and calling it "Coca Cola"... I imagine some company wouldn't be too happy about that.
Besides, it has little to do with "dumb" or "stoopid"; you lose your rights to a trademark if you do not actively defend it. If Fujitsu chose NOT to file suit against Apple, more direct competitors to Fujitsu's iPad would be free to use the trademark too. It's not like Fujitsu has a choice here.
Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
They can use other names! If there's "iBook" and "PowerBook", maybe they could use, I don't know - PowerPad? ...wait, that has been done before. Hmmmmmm... If there's "MacBooks", maybe "MacPad"? Wait, iPad isn't a Mac. *sigh* They're really dug their own grave now, haven't they?
"Suck" implies that it does something, I'm pretty sure it just sits there and adsorbs.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
iTampon...
Fujitsu is doing Apple a great big favor. Losing this suit would be the best thing to happen to the company in this historic product stumble:
There's a five year-old MadTV skit touting a mythical cross between an iPod and a feminine sanitary product--and it's called iPad. The Colbert Report just joked about calling it the "TamPod." The obligatory Downfall/Hitler mash-up is as devastating a critique of the product's capabilities as you could find in an industry magazine.
Word of warning, though. Apple is at its best when it's fallen flat on its face. The Apple ///c was followed by the Mac. iTools was followed by .Mac. The Mac Portable was followed by the PowerBook 100. The Cube was followed by the Power Macintosh G4 (Quicksilver).
Wait a year...
the fifth slashdot post about the iPad. When will we get over it?
I'll wait for the miniature version. I heard a rumour that it will have a phone and camera built in, so it will actually be more than just a picture frame.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Technically speaking, it absorbs.
Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
I always thought iTab would be nice..